In welcome news for homeowners, home prices in the U.S. increased by 0.9% from September to October, and by 7% on a year-over-year basis.
That’s according to CoreLogic, an Irvine, California-based real-estate research firm, which on Tuesday released its CoreLogic Home Price Index (HPI) and HPI Forecast for October
The portion of the 100 largest U.S. metropolitan areas with overvalued housing stock rose slightly from September to 37%, CoreLogic Market Condition Indicators (MCI) data showed. Of those 100 areas, 37% were at value, and 26% were undervalued.
“On a year-over-year basis, home prices grew in excess of 6% for four consecutive months ending in October, the longest such streak since June 2014,” CoreLogic chief economist Frank Nothaft said in a release. “This escalation in home prices reflects both the acute lack of supply and the strengthening economy.”
Home prices are projected to increase by 4.2 percent by October of next year, CoreLogic’s HPI Forecast indicated. From October to November of this year, however, home prices are expected to decrease by 0.2%. The forecast uses CoreLogic HPI and other economic variables, including state-level forecasts.
The Las Vegas and Denver metro areas saw the greatest HPI change year-over-year for single-family homes, at 10.2% and 8.3% respectively. Both markets were designated as overvalued by CoreLogic. On the state level, Washington saw the greatest change in HPI year-over-year at 12.5%, followed by Utah and Nevada, which each saw increases of 10.1%.
“The acceleration in home prices is good news for both homeowners and the economy because it leads to higher home equity balances that support consumer spending and is a cushion against mortgage risk,” CoreLogic president and CEO Frank Martell said in a release.
Written by Maggie Flynn