US Home Prices Rise Nominally in May, But Real-Term Declines Persist Amidst Inflation

In May, the S&P Cotality Case-Shiller Home Price Index registered a nominal annual increase of 1.1%, reaching a value of 335.1. This represents an acceleration from the 0.8% year-over-year growth observed in April. However, this nominal appreciation failed to keep pace with the broader economic inflation, which stood at 4.2% in May, marking its highest point in over three years. This disparity indicates that, in real terms, home prices continued to decline. Rebecca Kaufman, associate director of commodities at S&P Dow Jones Indices, a leading global provider of financial market data, research, and index-based products, highlighted this trend. She stated that "even on a nominal basis, the market remains noticeably weaker than a year ago," referencing that in May 2025, the National Home Price Index had seen a more robust year-over-year increase of 2.4%. On a month-over-month basis, the national index showed a 0.6% rise from April.

More current data from HousingWire Data, a real estate information and analytics firm, offers a more granular view of the market's trajectory. For the week ending July 24, 2026, this data indicates a continued softening in national home prices. During that specific week, the median list price for homes was $449,900. This figure represents a 1.8% decrease compared to the same period in the previous year and a 2.1% decline from the month prior.

Examining specific metropolitan areas, HousingWire Data identified pockets of significant annual median list price growth as of the end of June 2026. Ocean City, New Jersey, led these gains with an impressive +39.6% increase. Jackson, Michigan, followed with a +23.7% rise, and Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, recorded a +22.3% growth.

The S&P Case-Shiller composite indexes also reflected a faster pace of home price appreciation in May. The 10-city composite index, which tracks home prices in ten major US metropolitan areas, jumped 2.4% year-over-year, an improvement from April's 1.8% increase, and reached a reading of 371.52. Similarly, the 20-city index, encompassing twenty major US metropolitan areas, recorded a stronger annual increase of 1.6% in May, up from 1.2% in April, settling at a reading of 348.62. Both the 10-city and 20-city indexes reported a 0.9% monthly increase when compared to April. Among the twenty cities included in the 20-city index, Chicago posted the largest annual price gain in May at 6.9%. New York followed with a 4.2% increase, and Cleveland saw a 1.9% rise. Conversely, Seattle experienced the most significant annual price decline at 1.83%, with Denver also showing a notable decrease in home prices.