Case-Shiller July Preview: Prices Accelerate Into the Fall

The last housing price print of the summer lands this morning. The S&P Cotality Case-Shiller national index for July is scheduled for release at 10:00 a.m. Eastern on September 29, and the June report, out August 27, put annual home price growth at 1.53 percent, the fastest since last October. The June number was a surprise in one specific way: it accelerated even as the 30-year fixed mortgage rate averaged 6.49 percent in June and active listings climbed to 1.10 million, up 3.6 percent from a year earlier, per FRED series ACTLISCOUUS. Prices and inventory are both rising at rates rarely seen at the same time, and the July report decides whether that tension breaks toward softer prices or ho…