Good news on the real estate market and on US consumer confidence. US home prices rose in June, albeit less than the previous month. The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index, which measures the trend in house prices in the twenty major metropolitan areas of America, grew by 12,1% in June compared to the same period in 2012. An increase not far from 12,2% expected by analysts.
Again on an annual basis, a +12,2% was recorded in May, the largest leap since March 2006. In June, the component that measures price trends in the ten largest metropolitan areas grew by 2,2% compared to May (as in the 20 largest cities) and by 11,9% compared to June 2012.
Today's report also includes quarterly data relating to the national market, where prices rose by 10,1% in the April-June period compared to the second quarter of 2012, reaching the highs of the first quarter of 2004.
However, the study contains an invitation to caution: “In general – we read -, the report shows that house prices are increasing, but the rate is decelerating. In 14 out of 20 cities, a weakening was seen from May to June. In fact, the rise in mortgage rates could discourage some buyers.
As for US consumer confidence, the index compiled by the Conference Board, a private research group, rose this month to 81,5 points, from 81 in July. The figure is better than analysts' estimates, which expected a drop to 78 points.
"Confidence has increased slightly, as a result of improved short-term expectations," said Lynn Franco, head of the index's editorial board, noting that "consumers are moderately more convinced about the outlook for companies, employment and profits" .
The component that measures expectations over the next six months rose from 86 to 88,7 points. The score on the current situation dropped from 73,6 to 70,7 points.
