The Case-Shiller 20-city house price index for April 2013 was released over night, which revealed an ongoing recovery in US house prices, with prices lifting by a seasonally-adjusted 1.6% over the month, 4.9% over the quarter, and 12.0% over the year. It was the biggest yearly price gain since March 2006 (see next chart).
In another strong signal for US house prices, both the University of Michigan and Conference Board consumer sentiment indices have turned-up which, given past correlations, suggests stronger house price growth ahead (see next chart).
The surge in US home prices also appears to be spurring dwelling construction, with both dwelling starts and dwelling permits in an up-trend (see below charts).
However, both the house price and construction recoveries are off a very low base, with both still well below mid-2000s levels (see next chart).
