GoldPrice.

The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller index rose 4.7% annually in April, up 0.1% from the month before. The 10-city composite index saw no change at 3.4% annual growth, while the 20-city composite rose 0.1% annually to 4.0%. S&P Dow Jones Indices managing director Craig Lazzara described prices as “remarkably stable,” noting that the price trends in place before the COVID-19 pandemic struck remain relatively undisturbed.

Key Takeaways

• The Case-Shiller index rose 4.7% in the 12 months through April, up from 4.6% in March.
• Housing price data remains relatively unaffected by the coronavirus pandemic according to the latest report.
• Price gains were led by Phoenix, followed by Seattle and Minneapolis.
• Data for Detroit was unavailable due to the impact of coronavirus pandemic on local records.

Phoenix saw the largest home price gains with 8.8% price growth in the 12 months through April. Seattle saw a 7.3% annual increase in price, while Minneapolis saw a 6.4% increase. 12 out of 19 cities saw higher prices during the year. The 10-city and 20-city composite indexes saw 0.7% and 0.9% growth respectively before seasonal adjustment.

Record low mortgage rates have contributed to buyer purchasing power, bolstering market prices. Existing home sales, however, fell to the slowest pace in ten years in April, due to lockdown procedures interfering with open house events. However, sales have rebounded with the largest monthly increase in sales since records began in 2001. A diminishing supply indicates that prices will continue to grow throughout 2020.

Case-Shiller: National House Price Index increased 4.7% year-over-year in April - https://t.co/5pcBJjyTVX pic.twitter.com/8XyJJQnrnk

— MrTopStep (@MrTopStep) June 30, 2020

Expert Outlook

Craig Lazzara, Managing Director and Global Head of Index Investment Strategy at S&P Dow Jones Indices, said that "April’s housing price data continue to be remarkably stable,” adding that “April’s year-over-year gains were ahead of March’s, continuing a trend of gently accelerating home prices that began last fall. Results in April continued to be broad-based. Prices rose in each of the 19 cities for which we have reported data, and price increases accelerated in 12 cities.”

Lazarra further commented that, apart from the lack of data for the Detroit metropolitan area, the pandemic has had little visible impact on the price indexes. “The price trend that was in place pre-pandemic seems so far to be undisturbed, at least at the national level. Indeed, prices in 12 of the 20 cities in our survey were at an all-time high in April.”

Market Reaction

Gold prices have ticked downward slightly in today’s session. Spot gold last traded at $1,767.80/oz, down -0.24% with a high of $1,773.88/oz and a low of $1,766.07/oz.

U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell stated that the US economy has rebounded from the pandemic faster than expected, although acknowledged that keeping the pandemic contained is an ongoing challenge. In other news, tensions are rising between the US and Russia following a report that the Russian government has offered Taliban fighters a bounty for killing US troops.