U.S. Home-Price Growth Accelerated in November
27 January 2021 - 1:30AM
Dow Jones News
By Nicole Friedman
Home-price growth accelerated in November, as buyers continued
to compete for a limited number of homes on the market.
The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller National Home Price Index,
which measures average home prices in major metropolitan areas
across the nation, rose 9.5% in the year that ended in November, up
from an 8.4% annual rate the prior month. November marked the
highest annual rate of price growth since February 2014.
Sales of previously owned homes, which make up the bulk of the
housing market, rose in 2020 to their highest annual level since
2006, according to the National Association of Realtors. Record-low
mortgage rates have increased demand, while the supply of homes for
sale has remained low, especially at affordable price points.
The Case-Shiller 10-city index gained 8.8% over the year ended
in November, compared with a 7.6% increase in October. The 20-city
index rose 9.1%, after an annual gain of 8% in October.
"The housing market continued to hold stronger than expected
throughout the last months of 2020," said Selma Hepp, deputy chief
economist at CoreLogic. "Homebuyers will continue to compete for
fewer and fewer homes available for sale, which will drive home
prices higher."
Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal expected the
20-city index to gain 8.8%.
The 20-city index measured 19 cities in November due to
transaction reporting delays in Wayne County, Mich., according to
S&P Dow Jones Indices. Price growth accelerated in all of the
19 cities.
Phoenix had the fastest home-price growth in the country for the
18th straight month, at 13.8%, followed by Seattle at 12.7%.
A separate measure of home-price growth by the Federal Housing
Finance Agency also released Tuesday found an 11% increase in home
prices in November from a year earlier.
Write to Nicole Friedman at nicole.friedman@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 26, 2021 09:15 ET (14:15 GMT)
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