United States: Annual home price growth accelerates to an over three-year high in November
Home prices continued to climb in November, running ahead of inflation and household income growth. The S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city composite home price index increased 0.2% on a month-on-basis, matching the growth rate recorded in October. When adjusted for seasonal factors, house prices grew 0.7% from the previous month, also holding pace from October, and coming in slightly above market expectations of a 0.6% rise.
On an annual basis, home price growth clocked in at 6.4% in November, the highest rate since July 2014 and slightly above the downwardly revised 6.3% increase logged in October (previously reported: +6.4% year-on-year). Seattle and Las Vegas again recorded the largest increases in house prices among the 20 cities that comprise the index, each reporting double-digit growth on an annual basis. Meanwhile, and similar to last month’s results, Washington and Chicago registered the weakest annual price rises of 3.3% and 3.6%, respectively.
Commenting on this month’s outturn, David M. Blitzer, Managing Director and Chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices, said:
“Looking across the 20 cities covered, those that enjoyed the fastest price increases before the 2007-2009 financial crisis are again among those cities experiencing the largest gains. San Diego, Los Angeles, Miami and Las Vegas, price leaders in the boom before the crisis, are again seeing strong price gains. They have been joined by three cities where prices were above average during the financial crisis and continue to rise rapidly – Dallas, Portland OR, and Seattle.”