October 2019 saw an annual increase of 3.3% for home prices across the country, rising from last month’s pace, according to the Case-Shiller Home Price Index from S&P Dow Jones Indices and CoreLogic.

During the month, the 10-City and 20-City composites reported a 1.7% and 2.1% year-over-year increase, respectively. And eight of 20 cities reported increases before seasonal adjustment, whereas 18 of 20 cities reported increases after seasonal adjustment.  

Craig Lazzara, managing director and global head of index investment strategy at S&P Dow Jones Indices, said October’s housing data continues to be reassuring.

“With October’s 3.3% increase in the national composite index, home prices are currently more than 15% above the pre-financial crisis peak reached July 2006,” Lazzara said. “October’s results were broad-based, as both our 10- and 20-city composites rose. Of the 20 cities in the composite, only San Francisco saw a year-over-year price decline in October.”

According to the index, Phoenix; Tampa, Florida; and Charlotte, North Carolina reported the highest year-over-year gains among all of the 20 cities.

“At a regional level, Phoenix retains the top spot for the fourth consecutive month with September’s 6% year-over-year gain,” Lazzara said. “The Southeast region was also strong, as Charlotte, Tampa, and Atlanta all rose at greater than a 4% clip.”

In October, Phoenix led with a 5.8% year-over-year home price increase, followed by Tampa with a 4.9% increase and Charlotte with a 4.8% increase. Twelve of the 20 cities reported larger price increases in the year ending October 2019 versus the year ending September 2019.

 “As was the case last month, after a long period of decelerating price increases, the national, 10-city, and 20-city composites all rose at a modestly faster rate in October compared to September,” Lazzara said. “This stability was broad-based, reflecting data in 12 of 20 cities. It is, of course, still too soon to say whether this marks an end to the deceleration or is merely a pause in the longer-term trend.”