National home prices continued to increase in December 2019. Nineteen metro areas had positive home price appreciation while Cleveland saw home price decline in December.

The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index, released by S&P Dow Jones Indices, rose at a seasonally adjusted annual growth rate of 5.7% in December, following a 5.8% increase in November. On a year-over-year basis, the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index posted a 3.8% annual gain in December, up from 3.5% in November. It was the highest year-over-year gain since February 2018. Home prices are expected to continue rising in 2020 as tight inventory remains a concern.

Meanwhile, the Home Price Index, released by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), rose at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 7.6% in December, after a 3.3% increase in November. On a year-over-year basis, the FHFA Home Price NSA Index rose by 5.2% in December, after an increase of 5.0% in November.

In addition to tracking home price changes nationwide, S&P also reported home price indexes across 20 metro areas. In December, the annual growth rates of the 20 metro areas ranged from -1.6% to 11.4%, while nine of the 20 metro areas exceeded the national average of 5.7%. Among the 20 metro areas, Phoenix, Seattle and San Francisco had the highest home price appreciation in December. Phoenix led the way with an 11.4% increase, followed by Seattle with a 9.4% increase and San Francisco with an 8.7% increase. Cleveland (-1.6%) had negative home price appreciation in December.

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