Two major measurements of the rise in home prices show annual growth rates of 4.5% and 5.1%, respectively. Meanwhile, most mortgage executives and consumers believe that prices will continue to rise this year, according to a recent national survey.
NAHB’s Eye on Housing reports that the latest home price index by the Federal Housing Finance Agency shows that home prices rose by 5.1% on a 12-month seasonally adjusted basis in January. This marks the 36th consecutive month of year-over-year growth. During this nearly three-year period, house prices have risen by 20.1%.
Similarly, the recent release from Standard and Poor’s (S&P) and Case-Shiller indicates that their measure of national house prices rose by 4.5% on a year-over-year seasonally adjusted basis. This is the 33rd consecutive month of year-over-year increases in the house price index. During this time, house prices have risen by 22.1%.
According to the S&P/Case-Shiller National House Price Index, year-over-year house price growth has slowed in recent months. Year-over-year house price growth peaked at 10.9% in October 2013. However, as Figure 1 below illustrates, annual house price growth was 4.5% in January 2015.