2013 home prices: Agents, economists on the same page

Both real estate practitioners and economists are in agreement: Home prices are projected to increase and recently released research data supports the claim.

The October 2012 Economic Survey by the Wall Street Journal panel of economists forecasted home prices as increasing at an annual rate of 3.25 percent in 2013.

A similar National Association of Business Economists survey projected a 2.8 percent increase in home prices by the end of next year. Based on information from the latest Realtors Confidence Index, Realtors are also projecting a 3 percent increase in home prices in the forthcoming year.

The latest data from the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller index price trends in 20 major metro markets shows 2.0 percent appreciation from one year ago as of August. The gain had been 0.6 percent in June and 1.1 percent in July. Seattle home prices were down slight in August from a year ago.