House prices in the U.S. continued to slow in June, increasing 18.0% year over year, below May's 19.9% growth, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index. The index was up 0.3% from the previous month after seasonal adjustment.

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Price growth in top cities still robust but slowing

Top cities are still posting strong price growth although at a slower pace than in prior months. The 20-City Composite Index saw a year-over-year gain of 18.6% in June, a slowdown from the previous month's 20.5%, while the 10-City Composite Index saw a 17.4% increase year over year, also a slight drop from 19.1% in May.

Tampa, Fla., recorded the highest annual house price increase for the fourth consecutive month, with a 35.0% annual hike. Miami came in second, posting an annual price increase of 33.0%, followed by Dallas at 28.2%.

Top homebuilder, residential mortgage lender

As of Aug. 29, U.S. homebuilder stocks continued to perform poorly, posting a median total return of negative 28.4% over the course of one year.

Taylor Morrison Home Corp.'s stock still performed better when compared to the rest of U.S. homebuilders, with a negative one-year total return of 8.4%. In the 12 months to June 30, the company sold 13,410 homes, a 6.1% increase from the previous year.

Rocket Mortgage LLC remained the top U.S. residential mortgage lender year-to-date, originating $71.59 billion in residential mortgages through May. This was down 51.3% from the same period in the previous year.

Double-digit drop in new home sales

New single-family home sales in the U.S. plunged 12.6% on a monthly basis in July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 511,000 units, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. On an annual basis, new home sales dropped 29.6%.

Similarly, privately owned, single-unit housing starts dipped 10.1% month over month in July and by 18.5% on a yearly basis.

Existing-home sales fell on a monthly basis but at a slower pace, declining 5.9% from the previous month and by 20.2% year over year, according to the National Association of Realtors.

National Association of Realtors Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said in an Aug. 18 press release that the continued drop in sales reflects the impact of the 6% mortgage rate peak in early June. "Home sales may soon stabilize since mortgage rates have fallen to near 5%, thereby giving an additional boost of purchasing power to home buyers," Yun added.

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