The pace of housing-price gains fell by the largest amount in history in August, topping the previous record for deceleration set in July, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index.  

Despite the slowdown, U.S. housing prices remain significantly higher than they were a year ago. 

Specifically, the national index rose 13% year-over-year in August, compared to a 15.6% annual gain in July. The 2.6% difference is the largest in the index’s history, S&P DJI Managing Director Craig Lazzara noted in a press release. 

“The forceful deceleration in U.S. housing prices that we noted a month ago continued in our report for August 2022,” Lazzara said. “Further, price gains decelerated in every one of our 20 cities. These data show clearly that the growth rate of housing prices peaked in the spring of 2022 and has been declining ever since.” 

In Boston, home prices posted an 11.4% year-over-year gain in August, compared to a 1.3% gain in July. Month over month, prices fell 1.2%. 

The 10-city composite index rose 12.1% on a yearly basis and fell 1.6% on a monthly basis, while the 20-city composite rose 13.1% annually and slid 1.6% monthly.  

 “As the Federal Reserve moves interest rates higher, mortgage financing becomes more expensive and housing becomes less affordable,” Lazzara said. “Given the continuing prospects for a challenging macroeconomic environment, home prices may well continue to decelerate.”