The S&P Cotality CoreLogic Case-Shiller Index, the flagship measure of U.S. home prices, recorded a 2.1% annual gain in national home prices for August 2026, up 0.2% from July’s 1.9% gain. Both city composite indices posted similar gains:
The 10-City Composite is up 3.6% annually versus 3.4% the prior month, and the 20-City Composite is up 2.7% versus 2.5% the prior month.
Real home value, however, is now in its 15th straight month of decline. August’s 3.4% inflation rate sits a comfortable 1.3 percentage points above the 2.1% annual price gain, even though the 0.2% increase in home prices does still represent a meaningful narrowing of the gap.
Regional splits in home prices are still going strong. According to Rebecca Kaufman, associate director of Commodities at S&P Dow Jones Indices, Chicago led all metros for the sixth consecutive month, posting a 6.7% annual gain, followed by New York (6.2%) and Cleveland (4.3%). On the West Coast, Seattle recorded the largest annual decline for the third consecutive month at 2.0%, followed by Las Vegas (-1.3%) and Denver (-0.8%).
The month-over-month data showed a 0.2% fall in home prices for the entire U.S. before seasonal adjustment, while the 10-City and 20-City Composite Indices recorded a decline of 0.4% (also before adjustment). After seasonal adjustment, however, the 10-City Composite rose 0.4% month-over-month, with the 20-City and national home price indices trailing not too far behind at 0.3%.
Per Kaufman, the discrepancy in seasonally adjusted and non-seasonally adjusted prices is indicative of a “post-summer slowdown” that “is obscuring some underlying strength in home prices.”
Even so, she cautioned that affordability will remain challenging. “With inflation at 3.4%, Brent crude near $100 per barrel and mortgage rates in the mid-to-high 6% range,” she says, “households continue to face elevated costs alongside persistently high home prices.”
Realtor.com® Senior Economist Anthony Smith also advised caution. Smith noted that the data is lagging, and that “(t)his month’s release reflects sales closing from June through August,” and “the rate backdrop has become considerably more challenging since August closed.”
Specifically, he noted that “(t)he 30-year fixed rate climbed to 7.40% in mid-October, the highest level of the year, before easing to 7.32% as of Oct. 22, after the Federal Reserve raised its benchmark rate on Sept. 16 and September CPI rose to 3.7%. Pending home sales fell 7.3% in September and were down 11.3% from a year ago, with declines in all four regions. With inventory at its highest level since 2019 and rates above 7%, buyers have more homes to choose from but less power to pay for them.”
