During their pandemic-era peak in 2021, home prices were up 18.9 percent year-over-year at one point. Fortunately, for prospective home buyers, those days are over. Home prices these days are increasing at a much slower pace. But while they aren’t rising as fast as they were a few years ago, they are still climbing. In fact, according to the latest results from the S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Index, national home prices ticked up at the end of last year, posting a 3.9 percent annual gain in December after recording a 3.7 percent increase the previous month. That’s below-trend growth when compared to the more than 30-year history of the index but it’s still growth. Brian D. Luke, CFA, head of commodities, real & digital assets at S&P Dow Jones Indices, says today’s homeowners have done well. “Through this recent market cycle, the ability of Americans to grow wealth by participating in the upside of the U.S. housing market, particularly if done through a leveraged position by securing a mortgage, has proven to be historically beneficial,” Luke said. (source)
