Phoenix housing prices dropped by 2.0% over the year in September based on the S&P Cotality Case-Shiller indices. It was not alone, as 11 of the 20 cities in the indices registered a drop in house prices over the year. Nationally, house prices were up 1.3% in September compared to 1.4% in August. The 20-city composite had an annual gain of 1.4%, down from 1.6% the previous month. Chicago was the metropolitan area with the largest increase in house prices year-over-year, at 5.5%, followed by New York at 5.2% and Boston at 4.1%. At the other end of the spectrum, Tampa reported the most noteworthy decrease in prices at -4.1%, followed by Phoenix at -2.0%, and Dallas at -1.3%. This reverses a trend from the last few years when Florida, Texas, and Arizona were among the states with the biggest price gains. -Valorie Rice
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Arizona was among six states reporting a decline in annual housing price changes for the third quarter of 2025. The one-year change in prices for the state was -0.3%, compared to an increase of 2.3% nationally based on the U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) House Price Index. The state with the highest annual appreciation in the third quarter was Illinois, at 6.9%, followed by New York at 6.8%, and North Dakota at 6.3%. Florida ranked last with a -2.3% change in house prices, followed by Colorado at -1.2%, and Vermont at -0.9%. State-level data contain purchase-only data, whereas the data available for all Arizona metropolitan areas are compiled with the all-transactions index, which includes purchases and refinance data. Price changes for Arizona metro areas in the third quarter of 2025 were 1.6% in Flagstaff, 2.1% in Lake Havasu City-Kingman, 0.9% in Phoenix, 5.5% in Prescott Valley-Prescott, 2.1% in Sierra Vista-Douglas, 1.7% in Tucson, and 1.7% in Yuma. For comparison, the all-transaction changes for the U.S. and Arizona were 3.3% and 1.3%, respectively. -Valorie Rice
The U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) for all items increased 0.3% over the month in September, down from 0.4% in August. Over the year, the all-items index was up 3.0, similar to the August increase of 2.9%. The core index (all items less food and energy) also rose 3.0% in September. The energy CPI was up 2.8% over the year, while the food CPI rose 3.1%. In September, the shelter index was up 3.6% nationally, but down 0.4% in the Phoenix MSA. -George Hammond…