Dive Brief:
- U.S. home prices, including distressed sales, rose 0.5% between October and November and 6.3% between November 2014 and November 2015, CoreLogic reported in its Home Price Index Tuesday.
- In the report, CoreLogic also predicted home prices will remain unchanged between November 2015 and December 2015, and 5.4% between November 2015 and November 2016.
- The 0.5% gain in November was higher than the slight 0.1% rise CoreLogic had predicted in its October report.
Dive Insight:
"Heading into 2016, home price growth remains in its sweet spot as prices have increased between 5 and 6 percent on a year-over-year basis for 16 consecutive months," CoreLogic Chief Economist Frank Nothaft said in a release. "Regionally we are beginning to see fissures, with slowdowns in some Texas and California markets, but the northwest and southeast remain on solid footing."
Although some areas saw price growth slowdown — including Texas, which coincides with a recent report that the oil slump is stalling the area's housing market — the fact that November's increase was higher than predicted reinforces affordability concerns.
Experts have repeatedly pointed to rising home prices as a factor hindering stronger growth in the housing market. In its housing report last month, Zillow predicted the market will be defined by "deteriorating housing affordability" in 2016.
