Home prices increased 0.5% in November, excluding distressed sales, according to FNC's Residential Price Index.
The increase comes despite the fact that foreclosure sales were up during the month. The report finds that completed foreclosure sales nationwide increased to 16.8% from October's 14.4% – which would typically predicate a slowing of home price appreciation.
Foreclosure sales hit a post-crisis low in August when they reached 12.6% of all sales, FNC says.
Meanwhile, FNC forecasts that home prices were unchanged in December, with the sales-to-list price discount matching November's 4.6%.
FNC's report points out that home price appreciation has stabilized in recent months as part of the usual seasonal trend: Home prices tend to be less volatile when overall activity is down – typically during the late fall and winter.
The report shows that home price appreciation has been spotty and varies considerably from market to market. Metropolitan areas that saw the biggest gains in home prices in November, compared to October, include Seattle; Columbus, Ohio; and Nashville, Tenn.; which were up 2.6%, 2.4% and 2.1% respectively. Home prices were also up in Riverside, Calif.; Miami; and Orlando, Fla. – which saw increases of 1.8%, 1.6% and 1.4%, respectively.
Riverside in particular, is exhibiting rapid price accelerations in recent months, averaging 2.0% per month since May 2013, while the city's foreclosure sales continue to decline rapidly, the report states. As of November, Riverside had the highest foreclosure sales rate (11.7% of total home sales) among California's largest metros.
Areas where home prices dropped included Denver, which has seen home prices decline for four straight months. San Diego and San Francisco experienced similar year-over-year growth decelerations in November. Those two cities saw their foreclosure sales drop to pre-crash levels (6.7% and 4.9%, respectively).
The report's findings are in line with CoreLogic's Home Price Index report, which shows that home prices increased 0.1% in November, compared to October. Excluding distressed sales, home prices increased 0.3%, according to CoreLogic.
On a year-over-year basis, home prices have increased an average of 11.8% compared to November 2012, the CoreLogic report finds.
November marked the 21st consecutive month that home prices increased on a year-over-year basis, according to CoreLogic.
Excluding distressed sales, home prices increased 10.4%, on a year-over year basis, in November.
‘The housing market paused as expected in November for the holiday season with very low month-over-month appreciation,’ says Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic, in a statement, adding that 2013 was shaping up to be ‘the best year for home-price appreciation since 2005.’
To check out FNC's report, click here.
To check out CoreLogic's report, click here.