The pace of United States home-price growth picked up in July as geography continued to create a wide gap in performance, with prices in No. 1 Chicago outpacing those in lowest-ranked Seattle by almost 9%. 

The S&P Cotality Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index rose 1.9% year over year in July, up from a 1.6% gain in June. Month over month, the index rose 0.12%.  

S&P Dow Jones noted that although prices rose almost 2%, in real terms, they were actually down due to inflation, which registered 3.4% in July. 

“While home prices continued to decline in real terms in July 2026, marking the 14th consecutive month of real declines, slightly lower inflation and stronger nominal home price appreciation helped narrow the gap,” said Rebecca Kaufman, associate director of commodities at S&P Dow Jones Indices. “Although inflation remained elevated at 3.4%, much of the increase was concentrated in energy, with energy and gasoline prices rising 14.7% and 24.6%, respectively. By contrast, core inflation, which excludes food and energy, rose only 2.5% year over year. This distinction is important because persistent inflation in shelter and other core categories tends to have a more direct impact on housing affordability than energy-driven price fluctuations.” 

In Boston, home prices popped 2.68% year over year and slipped 0.07% month over month in July.