U.S. home prices increased 1.6% in April compared with March and increased 6.9% compared with April 2016, according to CoreLogic’s home price index report.
Year over year, states that saw the strongest home price appreciation, as of the end of April, included Washington (12.0%), Utah (10.1%), Oregon (9.1%), Colorado (8.8%) and Michigan (8.7%).
Currently, CoreLogic is forecasting that home prices increased 0.7% from April to May and will increase 5.1% from April 2017 to April 2018.
“Mortgage rates in April dipped back to their lowest level since November of last year, spurring home buying activity,” says Frank Nothaft, chief economist for CoreLogic, in a statement. “In some metro areas, there has been a bidding frenzy as multiple contracts are placed on a single home. This has led home-price growth to outpace rent gains. Nationally, home prices were up 6.9 percent over the last year, while rent growth for single-family rental homes recorded a three percent rise through April, according to the CoreLogic Single-Family Rental Index.”
“Interest rates on fixed-rate mortgages are down by one-fourth of a percentage point since mid-March, just in time to support the spring home buying season,” adds Frank Martell, president and CEO of CoreLogic. “Some metro areas have low for-sale inventory, short time-on-market trends and homes that sell above the list price. Geographically, gains were strongest in the West, with Washington and Utah posting double-digit gains.”