S&P reported on Tuesday its Case-Shiller Home Price Index, which tracks home prices in 20 U.S. metropolitan areas, rose 4.2 percent y-o-y in December, following a revised 4.6 percent y-o-y increase in November (originally a 4.7 percent y-o-y gain).

Economists had expected an advance of 4.5 percent y-o-y.

Las Vegas (+11.4 percent y-o-y), Phoenix (+8.0 percent y-o-y) and Atlanta (+5.9 percent y-o-y) recorded the highest y-o-y gains in December.

Meanwhile, the S&P/Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index, which measures all nine U.S. census divisions, was up 4.7 percent y-o-y in December, down from 5.1 percent y-o-y in the previous month. That marked the slowest pace since August 2015.

David Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices, noted, “The annual rate of price increases continues to fall. Even at the reduced pace of 4.7% per year, home prices continue to outpace wage gains of 3.5% to 4% and inflation of about 2%. A decline in interest rates in the fourth quarter was not enough to offset the impact of rising prices on home sales.”