Today, Standard & Poor’s (S&P) released September 2016 values for its Case-Shiller Home Price Index, which tracks the prices of existing single-family homes in 20 U.S. metro areas. The index in each metropolitan area extends from a base value of 100 in January 2000. For example, Chicago’s September 2016 index value was 137.90 before seasonal adjustment; this translates to a 37.90 percent appreciation since January 2000 for a typical home in the Chicago market.

• All 20 cities tracked and both composite indices showed positive year-over-year returns. In Chicago, the index increased 4.3 percent from 132.21 in September 2015 to 137.90 in September 2016 (an increase over last month’s YOY growth rate of 3.8 percent).
• Chicago’s September 2016 home price level was relatively unchanged from the previous month (137.88 in August compared to 137.90 in September).
• In a press release, Standard & Poor’s Index Committee Managing Director and Chairman David M. Blitzer commented on the Index surpassing its July 2006 historic peak as “marking a shift from the housing recovery to the hoped-for start of a new advance.”  Additionally, he noted that, “other housing indicators are also giving positive signals: sales of existing and new homes are rising and housing starts at an annual rate of 1.3 million units are at a post-recession peak.”

The following charts illustrate home price comparison and trends.

Source: S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices

Note: The full press release and additional data can be found on the S&P website. values reflect non-seasonally adjusted data, which are typically more appropriate for annual comparisons than monthly ones; however, due to heightened volatility in recent housing values that can skew the seasonal adjustments, S&P recommends using the non-seasonally adjusted numbers, even for month-to-month comparisons.

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