iStockphoto Row of colorful homes in Issaquah, Washington. The numbers: The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-city index rose a seasonally adjusted 0.2% in December compared to November and was 4.2% higher compared to a year ago. That was the slowest pace of annual growth since November 2014. What happened: Home price growth is screeching to a halt, and yet prices are still increasing much faster than wages.
6% Seattle -0.6% 5.1% Tampa -0.1% 5.3% Washington -0.2% 2.7% The question for the housing market now is whether this easing in prices helps stabilize conditions, allowing entry-level buyers to break in. What they’re saying: “The annual rate of price increases continues to fall,” said David Blitzer, who runs the index committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices, and who just months ago was reassuring investors that there was no current housing bubble. Market reaction: The yield on the 10-year U.S.
Canary in the coal mine.