CoreLogic November Home Price Index Soars 7% for Third Straight Month

U.S. home prices rose 7% again in November compared with the same month a year ago, according to research firm CoreLogic. The firm had previously forecast a rise of 4.2%, more in line with the index jumps in for the first three months of the year. The data include sales of distressed properties. The 7% price gain matches the year-over-year increases in both September and October.

Month over month, November prices rose 1%, including distressed home sales. CoreLogic expects November housing prices to rise by 4.2% year over year by November 2018 and to dip by 0.2% month over month in December.

CEO Frank Martell noted:

Without a significant surge in new building and affordable housing stock, the relatively high level of growth in home prices of recent years will continue in most markets. Although policymakers are increasingly looking for ways to address the lack of affordable housing, much more needs to be done soon to see a significant improvement over the medium term.

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Chief Economist Frank Nothaft added:

Rising home prices are good news for home sellers, but add to the challenges that home buyers face. Growing numbers of first-time buyers find limited for-sale inventory for lower-priced homes, leading to both higher rates of price growth for ‘starter’ homes and further erosion of affordability.

Including distressed sales, home prices rose the most in Washington (12.2%), Nevada (10.8%), Utah (10.5%) and Idaho (10.4%).

CoreLogic also reported home price changes in selected metro areas, along with a note on whether prices were fairly valued:

• Las Vegas: up 11.1%; overvalued
• San Francisco: up 8.9%; at value
• Denver: up 8.1%; overvalued
• Los Angeles: up 7.5%; overvalued
• Boston: up 6.7%; at value
• Chicago: up 3.7%; at value
• Miami: up 3.7%; overvalued
• Washington, D.C.: up 3.7%; overvalued
• Houston: up 3.5%; overvalued
• New York City: up 3.3%; overvalued

The states where home prices posted the smallest index gains were New Mexico (2.0%), Oklahoma (2.2%) and Alaska and Kansas (2.3%).

The CoreLogic November report is available at the firm’s website.

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