S&P reported on Tuesday its Case-Shiller Home Price Index, which tracks home prices in 20 U.S. metropolitan areas, rose 5.2 percent y-o-y in August, following a revised 4.1 percent y-o-y surge in July. (originally a 3.9 percent y-o-y climb). This was the biggest annual advance in house prices since August 2018.

Economists had expected an advance of 4.2 percent y-o-y.

Phoenix (+9.9 percent y-o-y), Seattle (+8.5 percent y-o-y) and San Diego (+7.6 percent y-o-y) recorded the highest y-o-y advances among the 19 cities (excluding Detroit) in August. All 19 cities reported greater price gains in the year ending August versus the year ending July.

Meanwhile, the S&P/Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index, which measures all nine U.S. census divisions, jumped 5.7 percent y-o-y in August, following a 4.8 percent y-o-y increase in the previous month.

“A trend of accelerating increases in the National Composite Index began in August 2019 but was interrupted in May and June, as COVID-related restrictions produced modestly-decelerating price gains”, noted Craig J. Lazzara, Managing Director and Global Head of Index Investment Strategy at S&P Dow Jones Indices. “We speculated last month that the accelerating trend might have resumed, and August’s results easily bear that interpretation. The last time that the National Composite matched August’s 5.7% growth rate was 25 months ago, in July 2018. If future reports continue in this vein, we may soon be able to conclude that the COVID-related deceleration is behind us.”