Single-family home prices nationwide increased 6.8 percent year-over-year in February and rose 1.1 percent between January and February 2016, according to CoreLogic’s Home Price Index report.
Although home prices are no longer increasing in double-digit percentages, this is the 48th consecutive month the HPI has shown a year-over-year increase, the report said.
CoreLogic predicts home prices will increase 5.2 percent between February 2016 and February 2017 and 0.6 percent between February and March.
“Fixed-rate mortgage rates dropped more than one-quarter of a percentage point in the first three months of 2016, and job creation averaged 209,000 over the same period,” said Frank Nothaft, CoreLogic’s chief economist, in the report. “These economic forces will sustain home purchases during the spring and support the 5.2 percent home price appreciation CoreLogic has predicted for next year.”
If home prices follow CoreLogic’s model, then a new-home price peak would be reached in May 2017, the report said.
