Home prices up 1.9% annually in July — energy, fuel costs loom

U.S. home prices increased 1.9% year-over-year in July, up from a 1.6% annual gain in June, according to latest S&P Cotality Case-Shiller data from S&P Dow Jones Indices. The S&P Cotality Case-Shiller 10-City Composite Index increased 3.4% year-over-year in July, up from a 3.0% annual gain in June. The 20-City Composite increased 2.5%, compared with a 2.2% gain in the previous month. Chicago posted the largest annual increase among the 20 tracked metropolitan areas, with prices rising 6.9% in July. New York followed with a 5.8% gain, while Cleveland increased 4.2%. Seattle recorded the largest annual decline for the second consecutive month, falling 1.6%. Las Vegas declined 1.3%, followed by Denver at 1.1%. The results also showed continued differences between Eastern and Western markets. Six of the eight Eastern metropolitan markets recorded larger year-over-year changes in July than in June, compared with two of the eight Western markets. Latest HousingWire Data shows the the median new-listing price falling from $429,900 to $415,000 this week compared to the previous seven days, while the median list price edged down slightly from $439,900 to $439,000. Seasonal and i...