Home price appreciation continued to stabilize in October, rising just 0.2%, on an adjusted basis, compared to September, and will continue to do so for the remainder of this year, according to CoreLogic's Home Price Index, based on data derived from various Multiple Listing Services (MLSs).
On an unadjusted basis, home prices increased just 0.4% in October, compared to September.
Still, home prices have risen considerably since this time last year. Looking at the trend on a year-over-year basis, prices nationwide, including distressed sales, increased 12.5% in October, compared to October 2012. Excluding distressed sales, prices increased by 11%, year-over-year.
October marked the 20th consecutive month that home prices increased on a year-over-year basis, according to the report.
CoreLogic forecasts that November 2013 home prices, including distressed sales, will be flat by comparison to October. Excluding distressed sales, November home prices will rise just 0.4%, month-over-month, the firm predicts, based on current data.
Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic, notes that the monthly growth rate is expected to moderate even further for the remainder of the year. ‘The slowdown in price appreciation is positive for the housing market as almost half the states are now within 10 percent of their respective historical price peaks,’ he says in a statement.
‘In terms of home price appreciation, the housing market appears to be catching its breath as we head into the final months of 2013,’ adds Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic. ‘The deceleration in month-on-month trends was anticipated as strong gains in home prices over the spring and summer slow in line with normal seasonal patterns and the impact of higher mortgage interest rates.’
Including distressed sales, the five states with the highest home price appreciation for the month of October were Nevada (25.9%), California (22.4%), Georgia (14.2%), Michigan (14.1%) and Arizona (14%).
Including distressed sales, the only state to show depreciation was New Mexico (-0.5%).
Excluding distressed sales, the five states with the highest home price appreciation were Nevada (22.5%), California (18.5%), Utah (13.3%), Florida (13%) and New York (12.4%).
Excluding distressed sales, no states posted home price depreciation in October.
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