U.S. home prices increased 1% in November compared with October and were up 7% compared with November 2016, according to CoreLogic’s home price index.
Washington, Nevada, Utah and Idaho led the states, with price gains of 10% or more.
Lack of affordable housing stock continued to keep home prices high, according to the software, data and analytics firm.
CoreLogic reports that because inventory is keeping prices high, roughly 37% of the housing stock in major U.S. cities is currently considered “overvalued.”
“Rising home prices are good news for home sellers, but add to the challenges that home buyers face,” says Frank Nothaft, chief economist for CoreLogic, in a release. “Growing numbers of first-time buyers find limited for-sale inventory for lower-priced homes, leading to both higher rates of price growth for ‘starter’ homes and further erosion of affordability.”
Currently, CoreLogic is forecasting that home prices will increase by 4.2% during the 12 months ending November 2018.
“Without a significant surge in new building and affordable housing stock, the relatively high level of growth in home prices of recent years will continue in most markets,” says Frank Martell, president and CEO of CoreLogic. “Although policymakers are increasingly looking for ways to address the lack of affordable housing, much more needs to be done soon to see a significant improvement over the medium term.”