Home Prices Rose at a Slightly Faster Pace in October

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Home prices increased at a slightly faster rate in October, the latest sign the housing market is firming after weakness earlier in the year.

The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index, which measures average home prices in major metropolitan areas across the U.S., rose 3.3% in October on an annual basis. That was a marginally greater increase than the 3.2% year-over-year rise during September.

The acceleration in home-price growth during October coincides with other data pointing to a pickup in home sales during the second half of the year, amid mortgage rates that are low by historical standards and steady economic growth.

“October’s U.S. housing data continue to be reassuring,” said Craig J. Lazzara, a managing director at S&P Dow Jones Indices. “With October’s 3.3% increase in the national composite index, home prices are currently more than 15% above the pre-financial crisis peak reached July 2006.”

Prices were up 2.2%, year over year, in large metro areas in a 20-city composite index tracked by S&P, a smaller increase than the rise nationally.

The Phoenix area saw the biggest price increases among the 20 large metro areas, with prices up 5.8% year over year. The Southeast region also saw strong gains, according to the report.

A separate report from the Federal Housing Finance Agency released Tuesday also showed home prices were up 0.2% nationally in October from the previous month and up 5.0% from the previous October. The National Association of Realtors said earlier this month that existing-home sales were up 2.7% in November from a year earlier, the fifth straight month of year-over-year gains.

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