US home prices ride seven-month streak to record high

Case-Shiller index notches 3.9% annual gain in September amid tight inventory

Stubbornly elevated mortgage rates were no match for the housing market’s inventory squeeze in September, when home prices reached — another — record high. 

Prices rose a modest 0.3 percent from August to September before seasonal adjustment,  according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index. The national index’s monthly gain is even stronger with seasonal adjustment, reaching 0.7 percent.

It was another month of home prices rising to records heights after the index reached an all-time high in July, pivoting from a seven-month stretch of declines. 

The national index also posted a 3.9 percent gain from last September, a larger jump than the 2.5 percent yearly gain recorded in August. 

The 10-City Composite and 20-City Composite indices also posted annual gains of 4.8 percent and 3.9 percent, respectively.

Prices surged the most in the Northeast and Midwest, which posted annual gains of 5.3 percent and 5 percent, respectively. In the West, prices dropped 1.3 percent.

Detroit zoomed past Chicago and posted the highest year-over-year price gain, with a 6.7 percent annual increase in the Motor City. It was followed by San Diego (6.5 percent) and New York (6.3 percent) for the top-rising markets; Chicago, Miami and New York are among the markets at an all-time pricing high.

On the other end, Las Vegas saw the biggest drop of 1.9 percent, followed by Phoenix (1.2 percent) and Portland (0.7 percent).