Tuesday, May 30, 2017

Growth in Home Prices Continues in March

FRACKVILLE, PA - MAY 17: Shuttered stores dominate the interior of the Schuylkill Mall which is scheduled to close in the coming months on May 17, 2017 in Frackville, Pennsylvania. Built in 1980 by Crown American, the Schuylkill Mall originally featured Kmart, Hess's, and Sears as its anchor stores but is now mostly empty. As consumers buying habits change and more people prefer to spend money on technology and experiences like vacations over apparel, shopping malls across the country are suffering.In the last decade dozens of malls have closed as retailers like JCPenney, Macy's and Sears, known as "anchor stores," close hundreds of locations do to falling sales. Real estate firm CoStar are projecting that nearly 25 percent of American malls are in danger of losing their anchors stores. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Home-price growth continued to accelerate in March, posing a challenge to the market, which already has seen the pace of sales slow because of rising prices and a shortage of inventory.

The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indices, which covers the entire nation, rose 5.8% in the 12 months ended in March, up from a revised 5.7% year-over-year increase reported in February.

Home prices hit a record in September, and the pace of growth has accelerated since then. The national price-growth number hit a 33-month high in March.

The 10-city index gained 5.2% over the year, and the 20-city index gained 5.9%, both unchanged from February. That slightly beat the expectations of economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal, who expected the 20-city index to rise 5.8% in March.

The accelerating gains are being driven by growing demand thanks to rising wages and a large demographic of people entering their 30s and looking to buy homes, as well as limited supply. Economists said they are concerned, however, that price growth that continues to outpace income growth isn’t sustainable.

“While prices cannot rise indefinitely, there is no way to tell when rising prices and mortgage rates will force a slowdown in housing,” said David Blitzer, managing director at S&P Dow Jones Indices.

The strong growth in prices also poses a challenge for first-time buyers trying to get into the market this year.

Still, home-price growth remains less than half of what it was during the housing bubble in the mid-2000s. Then prices grew by more than 14% for much of 2005.

Economists are concerned, however, about a handful of markets that have been seeing double-digit or near-double-digit growth. Seattle led the way in March with a 12.3% home-price increase, and Portland reported a 9.2% year-over-year gain. Dallas, which recently replaced Denver in the top three, reported a 8.6% annual increase in home prices.

Month over month, the U.S. Index rose 0.8% in March before seasonal adjustment, while the 10-city rose 0.9% and the 20-city index increased 1% from February to March.

After seasonal adjustment, the national index rose 0.3% month over month, and the 10-city and 20-city indexes rose 0.9%. After seasonal adjustment, 17 of 20 cities saw prices rise.

Overall the housing market is gaining strength, but there are signs price growth is starting to take a toll on buyer demand.

The pace of sales of existing homes fell 2.3% in April, as buyer frustration mounted over rising prices and a lack of homes for sale, the National Association of Realtors said last week. New home sales dropped 10.4% last month due to similar challenges, according to the Commerce Department.

The post Growth in Home Prices Continues in March appeared first on Real Estate News & Advice | realtor.com®.



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