CoreLogic: Home Prices Up 3.5 Percent

Home prices during September increased nationally by 3.5 percent from one year earlier and were also up by 0.4 percent from August, according to data from CoreLogic.

 

Among the states, Idaho had the greatest annual price gains with an 11.8 percent spike. No state had negative growth, and only Connecticut was unchanged from the September 2018 activity.

 

CoreLogic also reported that 36 percent of the nation’s 100 largest metropolitan areas had an overvalued housing market as of September, while 41 percent were at value and 23 percent were undervalue.

 

“Mortgage rates were a full percentage point lower this September compared to a year ago, boosting affordability for first-time buyers and supporting a rise in homeownership,” said Frank Nothaft, chief economist at CoreLogic. “In addition to lower interest rates, personal income grew faster than home prices during the past year. This provided an additional lift for first-time buyer affordability and helped to boost the homeownership rate to the highest level in more than five years.”

 

And as home prices increased nationwide, the national level of housing market inventory saw a year-over-year drop of nearly 98,000 listings in October, according to data from Realtor.com.

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