National home prices keep rising

From the New York website: Limited housing inventory coupled with increased demand boosted national home prices in October, even after a record-setting September.

Property values in 20 U.S. cities rose 5.1 percent year-over-year as of October, according to S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller.

Case-Shiller’s Indices, which measure national home prices, increased 5.6 percent to a record 185.06 during that time, the biggest increase since July 2014, Bloomberg reported.

All 20 cities in the index posted gains, but New York’s increase — 1.7 percent — was the smallest. The biggest leap was Seattle’s 10.7 percent year-over-year increase.

Despite the strong October numbers, David Blitzer, chairman of the S&P index committee, said home prices can’t rise “indefinitely.”

“Home prices and the economy are both enjoying robust numbers,” he said. “However, mortgage interest rates rose in November and are expected to rise further as home prices continue to outpace gains in wages and personal income.” [Bloomberg] — E.B. Solomont

Original content The Real Deal