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National Case-Shiller Home Price Index released

Results showed a year-over-year increase in April and annual growth up from March.

The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index® rose 4.7% year-over-year in April (non-seasonally adjusted), up from 4.6% in March, according to a report from Zillow released Tuesday morning.

Annual growth was also up from March in the smaller 20-city index (to 4%, from 3.9%) and was unchanged in the 10-city index (3.4%), reports Zillow.

U.S. cities reporting the highest year-over-year gains among markets in the 19-city index include Phoenix (+8.8%), Seattle (+7.3%), and Minneapolis (+6.4%).

Even as the nation closed its doors in April and a large portion of the economy came to a halt, home prices continued to steadily increase, according to Zillow.

The national price index showed that the smaller 10- and 20-city composite indices grew more slowly, at 3.4% and 4% year-over-year, respectively, reports Zillow. The annual rate of growth was higher in April than in March in the national and 20-city indices and was unchanged in the 10-city index. On a monthly (seasonally adjusted) basis, the 10- and 20-city indices were up both up 0.3% from March; the national index was up 0.5% month-over-month.

Despite a bleak and uncertain economic outlook, historically low mortgage rates in April helped to buoy the strong buyer demand that had been building in the months preceding the pandemic, fueling competition for the relatively few for-sale homes on the market and driving up prices as a result, Zillow writes.

Heightened demand has remained steady in the months since. As inventory continues to fall, mortgage rates keep finding new lows and measures of buyer activity have picked up markedly.

Risks remain and the longer-term outlook for home prices is still unclear, but for now the housing market continues to stay aloft through this major downturn and prices set to continue upward for the coming months.

Annual growth in May as reported by Case-Shiller is expected to slow slightly in the 10- and 20-city indices, reports Zillow, and accelerate somewhat in the national index.