US home prices register 19.1% annual gain in September
Nov 29, 2021, 4:00 PM | Updated: Nov 30, 2021, 6:48 am
FILE - An open house is posted in front of a home for sale in Westfield, Ind., Sept. 25, 2020. Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes ticked higher in October, marking their strongest pace since January, even as resilient demand and competition for relatively few properties on the market kept prices climbing. The National Association of Realtors said Monday, Nov. 22, 2021 that existing homes sales rose 0.8% last month from September to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 6.34 million units. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy, file)
(AP Photo/Michael Conroy, file)
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. home prices rose briskly in September, another sign that the housing market is booming in the aftermath of last year’s coronavirus recession.
The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-city home price climbed 19.1% in September from a year earlier. The strong price gains marked a deceleration from August’s 19.6% year-over-year increase. Still, September prices in all 20 cities set new records.
Phoenix was the nation’s hottest market, registering a 33.1% price increase. It was followed by Tampa (where prices rose 27.7%) and Miami (25.2%). All 20 cities reported double-digit increases. The smallest gains were in Chicago (up 11.8%) and Minneapolis (12.8%).
The housing market has been strong, thanks to rock-bottom mortgage rates and pent-up demand from consumers locked in last year by the pandemic.
“Housing prices continued to show remarkable strength in September, though the pace of price increases declined slightly,” said Craig J. Lazzara, managing director at S&P Dow Jones Indices. He added: “We have previously suggested that the strength in the U.S. housing market is being driven by households’ reaction to the COVID pandemic, as potential buyers move from urban apartments to suburban homes.”
Last week, the National Association of Realtors reported that sales of previously occupied homes rose 0.8% last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.3 million, strongest annual pace since January. The Commerce Department reported last week that new-home prices edged up a disappointing 0.4% last month as median prices rose nearly 18% from a year earlier to a record $407,700.
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