U.S. home prices increased 0.7% in January compared with December and increased 6.9% compared with January 2016, according to CoreLogic’s home price index report.
The report takes distressed sales into account.
Currently, CoreLogic is forecasting that home prices will increase 0.1% from January to February and 4.8% from January 2017 to January 2018.
“With lean for-sale inventories and low rental vacancy rates, many markets have seen housing prices outpace inflation,” says Frank Nothaft, chief economist for CoreLogic, in a release. “Over the 12 months through January of this year, the CoreLogic Home Price Index recorded a 6.9 percent rise in home prices nationally, and the CoreLogic Single-Family Rental Index was up 2.7 percent – both rising faster than inflation.”
“Home prices continue to climb across the nation, and the spring home buying season is shaping up to be one of the strongest in recent memory,” adds Frank Martell, president and CEO of CoreLogic. “A potent mix of progressive economic recovery, demographics, tight housing stocks and continued low mortgage rates are expected to support this robust market outlook for the foreseeable future.”