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Up, Up, and Away . . .

S&P Dow Jones Indices released the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index on Tuesday. The data accounts for September 2017 and shows that home prices continued to increase across the country over the last year.

The index reported a 6.2 percent annual gain in September, rising from 5.9 percent in the previous month. The indices’ overall numbers converged with breakdowns of the 10 and 20 largest U.S. metros. The 10-City Composite annual increase came in at 5.7 percent, while the 20-City Composite posted a 6.2 percent year-over-year gain.

According to David M. Blitzer, Managing Director and Chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices, home prices were higher in all 20 cities tracked by these indices compared to last year, while 16 cities experienced annual price increases accelerate from last month. In addition, home prices continued to rise across the country at the fastest annual rate since June 2014.

Regionally, Seattle, Las Vegas, and San Diego reported the highest year-over-year gains among the 20 cities. According to the data, Seattle, “led the way with a 12.9 percent year-over-year price increase, followed by Las Vegas with a 9 percent increase, and San Diego with an 8.2 percent increase.” In addition, another 13 cities had greater price increases in the year ending September 2017.

“Strength continues to be concentrated in the west with Seattle, Las Vegas, San Diego and Portland seeing the largest gains. The smallest increases were in Atlanta, New York, Miami, Chicago, and Washington. Eight cities have surpassed their pre-financial crisis peaks,” Blitzer said.

Blitzer continued to explain that most economic indicators suggest home prices will experience further gains.

“Rental rates and home prices are climbing, the rent-to-buy ratio remains stable, the average rate on a 30-year mortgage is still under 4 percent, and at a 3.8-month supply, the inventory of homes for sale is still low,” he said.
“The overall economy is growing with the unemployment rate at 4.1 percent, inflation at 2 percent and wages rising at 3 percent or more.”

However, there are other housing indicators that will have the market dealing with confronts.

“One dark cloud for housing is affordability—rising prices mean that some people will be squeezed out of the market,” Blitzer said.

To view the full Index, click here.

About Author: Nicole Casperson

Nicole Casperson is the Associate Editor of DS News and MReport. She graduated from Texas Tech University where she received her M.A. in Mass Communications and her B.A. in Journalism. Casperson previously worked as a graduate teaching instructor at Texas Tech's College of Media and Communications. To contact Casperson, e-mail: [email protected].
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