The Home Price Index rose 4.9 percent from September 2014 to September 2015, a slightly higher annual increase than the 4.6 percent growth recorded in August, according to S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices](http://hfmag.co/1lJF0Nd).
The 10- and 20-City composites increased 5 percent and 5.5 percent in September, versus 4.7 percent and 5.1 percent in August, respectively.
San Francisco, Denver and Portland, Ore., led the 20-City Composite in annual gains, with increases of 11.2 percent, 10.9 percent and 10.1 percent, respectively. Phoenix, with an annual gain of 5.3 percent in September, marked its tenth consecutive month with year-over-year price gains—the longest streak in the 20-City Composite.
Month-over-month, the National Index posted a gain of 0.8 percent in September. The 10- and 20-City Composites both recorded price increases of 0.6 percent. Nineteen of the 20 cities reported increases in September.
“Home prices and housing continue to show strength with home prices rising at more than double the rate of inflation,” said David Blitzer, managing director and chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices, in a statement.
He added that, due to the general economy showing renewed strength after a dip earlier in the fall, analysts expect the Federal Reserve to raise its Fed Funds target for the first time since 2006. The move is not likely to increase mortgage rates above the recent level of 4 percent, Blitzer said.
