By Canadian Press

US home prices post 6.2 per cent increase

Jan 30, 2018 | 6:30 AM

WASHINGTON — U.S. home prices rose a sharply in November, lifted by a shortage of homes on the market.

Standard & Poor’s said Tuesday that its S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller national home price index increased 6.2 per cent in November from a year earlier after climbing 6.1 per cent in October.

Seattle saw 12.7 per cent price increase, Las Vegas 10.6 per cent and San Francisco 9.1 per cent. Washington D.C. prices rose just 3.3 per cent, lowest among the 20 metropolitan areas measured.

The national housing index has registered annual gains of 5 per cent or more for 16 months.

David Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices, noted that housing construction is running well below historical levels. “Without more supply, home prices may continue to substantially outpace inflation,” he said.

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The national index is running 6.1 per cent above the peak it reached in July 2006 — before prices went into a 27.4 per cent freefall — a collapse that tipped the American economy into the worst recession since the 1930s. The national home-price index hit bottom in February 2012 and has bounced back 46.2 per cent since then.

The higher prices and shortage of inventory may be denting sales. And a December cold snap may have kept buyers out of the market. The Commerce Department reported last week that new-home sales skidded 9.3 per cent in December. And the National Association of Realtors said sales of existing homes dropped 3.6 per cent last month.

Paul Wiseman, The Associated Press

by Canadian Press

US home prices post 6.2 per cent increase

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