CoreLogic: Home Prices ‘Soar’ in Metro Areas

CoreLogic, Irvine, Calif., said home prices in October jumped by nearly 7 percent from a year ago and surged from a month ago.

The company’s Home Price Index said home prices nationwide, including distressed sales, increased year over year by 6.7 percent in October from a year ago and increased month over month by 1.1 percent.

Much of the home price surge occurred in the Pacific Northwest and along the coasts. Washington (10.5 percent); Oregon (9.9 percent); Utah (8.0 percent); New York (7.9 percent); Idaho (8.5 percent); and Colorado (8.4 percent) led all states; Connecticut home prices fell by 0.7 percent for the month; Alaska home prices rose by just 0.5 percent.

“Home prices are continuing to soar across much of the U.S. led by major metro areas such as Boston, Los Angeles, Miami and Denver, said CoreLogic President and CEO Amand Nallathambi. “Prices are being fueled by a potent cocktail of high demand, low inventories and historically low interest rates.”

Denver (9.4 percent) and Los Angeles (7.1 percent) led all metro areas; San Francisco home prices slowed to 2.6 percent.

“While national home prices increased 6.7 percent, only nine states had home price growth at the same rate of growth or higher than the national average because the largest states, such as Texas, Florida and California, are experiencing high rates of home price appreciation,” said CoreLogic Chief Economist Frank Nothaft.

The company’s forecast suggests home prices could increase by 4.6 percent through October 2017 to levels approaching the pre-recession peak and by 0.2 percent through November.