Guess What? Home Prices Are Still Going Up

Jun 06, 2017

Home prices climbed for the 24th consecutive month in March while home sales fell for a fourth consecutive month

Home prices nationwide saw a 6.9 percent year-over-year increase in April, according to new data from CoreLogic. On a month-over-month measurement, April’s home prices were up 1.6 percent.

Among the states, Washington and Utah saw the greatest year-over-year home price increases, at 12 percent and Utah 10.1 percent, respectively. Three states saw year-over-year declines: Wyoming (down 3.9 percent), Alaska (down 0.2 percent) and Delaware (down 0.2 percent).

CoreLogic is forecasting that home prices will increase by 5.1 percent on a year-over-year basis from April 2017 to April 2018, and on a month-over-month basis by 0.7 percent from April to May.

"Interest rates on fixed-rate mortgages are down by one-fourth of a percentage point since mid-March, just in time to support the spring home-buying season," said Frank Martell, president and CEO of CoreLogic. "Some metro areas have low for-sale inventory, short time-on-market trends and homes that sell above the list price. Geographically, gains were strongest in the West with Washington and Utah posting double-digit gains."

But what are homebuyers getting for their money? In a separate study, U.S. Census Bureau found that the median home size decreased to 2,422-square feet in 2016, slightly below the record peak of 2,467-square feet recorded in 2015. The Census Bureau also found there were more homes across the country that were less than 2,000-square feet and fewer that were more than 3,000-square feet in size.

Guess What? Home Prices Are Still Going Up

About the author

Phil Hall

Link copied

Published

Jun 06, 2017

Analysis and Data

Employment Rebounds In November, Uncertainty Lingers

Uptick in unemployment could boost odds of Fed rate cut

The unemployment rate edged up from 4.1% in October to 4.2% in November, while total nonfarm payroll employment added 227,000 jobs, beating consensus estimates. The number of unemployed people was little changed from November, at 7.1 million. A year earlier the jobless ra...

People On The Move

Connie Lindsay Joins Rate As SVP In Washington

Lindsay brings her mortgage banking experience to Rate

Rate, the second-largest retail mortgage lender in the U.S., announced the appointment of Connie Lindsay as senior vice president of mortgage lending in Washington state. Lindsay will contribute years of experience in mortgage banking, most recently at US Bank, and a commitm...