National Home Value Growth Accelerates Yet Continues to Trail Inflation

National home values posted modest gains in August, picking up speed from July, though price growth still failed to keep pace with inflation. The value of single-family homes as measured by repeat transactions rose 2.1% year over year in August, up from a 1.9% annual increase the month before, according to data from the S&P Cotality Case-Shiller Index released Tuesday.The more robust growth came even as the median existing-home sales price slowed to a 1.6% annual gain in August.However, while nominal home values accelerated nationally, they fell in real terms for the 15th consecutive month, as August's 3.4% inflation rate ran roughly 1.3 percentage points above the home value gain.Across the 20 cities tracked by the index, Chicago once again took pole position, leading the U.S. for the sixth consecutive month with a 6.7% annual gain, down slightly from July. New York followed with a year-over-year increase of 6.2%. Cleveland took bronze, registering a gain of 4.3%. "Seasonality continued to weigh on headline monthly results," says Rebecca Kaufman, associate director of commodities at S&P Dow Jones Indices. "On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, theU.S. National and 10-City Co...