Home Price Gains Moderate for Third Straight Month
Home prices experienced a third year-over-year deceleration in May, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index (HPI). On a year-over-year basis, the non-seasonally adjusted (NSA) index posted a 5.94% annual gain in May, down from a 6.39% increase in April. The index had seen steady increases in year-over-year growth since June 2023. But this growth rate began slowing in March 2024 and has continued to decelerate through May.
The HPI increased at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.09% for May, following a revised rate of 3.91% in April. May marks the 16th consecutive monthly increase; home prices have not seen an outright decrease since January 2023.
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Residential building material prices, excluding energy, rose 0.4% in July and were up 5.0% from a year ago. Energy prices fell again in July but remained significantly higher than a year ago. Meanwhile, prices for services were down 0.3% over the month but were 6.2% higher than a year ago.
The latest homeownership rate declined to 65% in the second quarter of 2026, according to the Census’s Housing Vacancy Survey (HVS). The homeownership rate was unchanged from a year ago, and not statistically different than the rate in the first quarter of the year (65.3%).
Led by declines in gasoline and diesel prices, inflation eased for the second consecutive month after reaching a three-year high in May. As energy prices moderated, shelter resumed its role as the largest driver of headline inflation, accounting for one-third of the annual increase and over two-thirds of the monthly increase.