U.S. home price index rises below expectations in June, home prices to appreciate modestly for rest of 2018

Home price appreciation in the U.S. maintains momentum in June, noted Barclays in a research report. The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-city Home Price Index rose 0.11 percent in the month, slightly below consensus expectations of a rise of 0.20 percent. On a year-on-year basis, the price appreciation came in at 6.3 percent, two-tenths lower from May, but within the 5.5 percent to 6.5 percent range seen over the past year.

The data continue to be in line with a sound rate of price appreciation. In the meantime, there were slight upward revisions to May’s data. Overall, given the combination of solid demand and lean inventories, the latter especially for existing homes, home prices are expected to continue to appreciate at a modest rate for the rest of the year, stated Barclays.

Delving into details, out of 20 cities, 17 saw increases in home prices. This is a rebound from May, when 15 cities registered price rises. This implies that the momentum is comparatively well distributed throughout geographies, added Barclays.

At 19:00 GMT the FxWirePro's Hourly Strength Index of US Dollar was highly bearish at 1.62006. For more details on FxWirePro's Currency Strength Index, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex