SG: US Housing: Home prices dipped again in August

■ Home prices moved lower in 20 US cities during August (B. Jones)

S&P/Case-Shiller (SPCS) reported that home prices in the 20 US cities that they track fell by 0.05% in August, after a downward revised 0.15% decline in July. The August print marked the fourth consecutive monthly slide and was weaker than the median Street expectation for a 0.1% rise. Since April, home prices have fallen by 0.3%, erasing three quarters of the rise posted in that month. The reported August dip left the index 3.8% below its year-to-year level the smallest 12-month decline since April.

■ Seasonal adjusted weakness in prices was broadly based in August

Looking at the detail of the SPCS report 14 of the 20 cities covered reported lower selling prices during the reference period compared to ten in July. The largest one-month declines were posted in Atlanta (-1.74%), Las Vegas (-0.87%) and Phoenix (-0.75%). Among the six metro areas enjoying higher prices in August, Washington, D.C. (0.99%), Chicago (0.4%) and Minneapolis (0.25%) led the way. The area showing the largest improvement over the latest three months on an annualized basis was, believe it or not, Detroit (+27.7%); the biggest laggard was Atlanta (-12.3%)