Home prices are rapidly ascending, and the hottest markets are in the West.
The explosion in home values continues in record-setting fashion, according to a study reported in a CNBC story.
S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller National Home Price Index numbers showed an April increase in home value at 14.6 percent; it rose 13.3 percent in March.
The highest year-to-year gains, meanwhile, came from Phoenix, Seattle and San Diego – all three boasted more than 20 percent growth.
The report’s big market, 10-city snapshot rose 14.4% year over year, up from 12.9% the prior month.
Trying to put this in perspective is difficult, especially given a few of the numbers never have been reached previously.
“April’s performance was truly extraordinary,” Craig Lazzara, managing director of index investment strategy at S&P Dow Jones Indices, told CNBC. “The 14.6% gain in the National Composite is literally the highest reading in more than 30 years of S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller data.”
Seattle, along with Charlotte, N.C.; Cleveland; Dallas; and Denver gained more in annual value than ever before.
Among the factors is the changes necessitated by the global pandemic, as Lazzara referenced buyers shifting from cities to suburbs.
“April’s data continue to be consistent with this hypothesis,” he said.
And demand continues to outpace the supply of inventory.
So is a housing bubble building? Not according to Selma Hepp, deputy chief economist at CoreLogic.
“Although home price growth is reaching new highs,” she told CNBC, “the risk of price declines has fallen far below pre-pandemic and summer 2006 levels, when homes prices last peaked. This is likely because favorable mortgage rates and income growth continue to keep the ratio of mortgage payments to monthly household income much lower today.”
She added that prices “are likely to remain at double-digit increases through the third quarter of 2021.”
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