U.S. home prices increased 1.0% in February compared with January and increased 7.0% compared with February 2016, according to CoreLogic’s home price index report.
Currently, CoreLogic is forecasting that home prices will increase 0.4% from February to March and by 4.7% over the next 12 months.
“Home prices and rents have risen the most in local markets with high demand and limited supply, such as Seattle, Portland and Denver,” says Frank Nothaft, chief economist for CoreLogic, in a release. “The rise in housing costs has been largest for lower-tier-priced homes.
“For example, from December to February in Seattle, the CoreLogic Home Price Index rose 12 percent, and our single-family rent index rose six percent for all price tiers compared with the same period a year earlier,” Nothaft says. “However, when looking at only lower-cost homes in Seattle, the price increase was 13 percent, and the rent increase was seven percent.”
“Home prices continue to grow at a torrid pace so far in 2017, and these gains are likely to continue well into the future,” adds Frank Martell, president and CEO of CoreLogic. “Home prices are at peak levels in many major markets, and the appreciation is being driven by a number of dynamics – high demand, stronger employment, lean supplies and affordability – that will continue to play out in the coming years. The CoreLogic Home Price Index is projecting an additional five percent rise in home prices nationally over the next 12 months.”