National Single-Family Home Prices Maintain Solid Growth: Las Vegas Is Heating Up, while Dallas Is Cooling Down

US housing market grew at a solid 5.3% Y-o-Y in April 2018 according to Amherst Home Price Index. Detroit is set to surpass its pre-crisis peak for the first time in the coming months. Las Vegas – the slowest big city to recover – has finally shown strong signs of picking up with Y-o-Y HPA of 12.1%. Seattle continues its 15-month streak of two-digit Y-o-Y HPA and maintains its #1 rank in the nation. Data indicates a slowing down of home price growth and possibly a change in momentum, in Dallas. Its current trailing one-year HPA is at 5.9%, compared to a stable level around 8% between 2014 and early 2017. Overall, US single family price growth has significantly lagged the post-crisis recoveries witnessed in equities and commercial real estate. The pace of new single family housing construction remains anemic by historical norms even as we expect greater demand from more millennials entering family formation ages in the coming years. We remain optimistic on the US home price growth for the foreseeable future.