U.S. Home Prices Surged in the First Quarter of 2013

The Corelogic Case-Shiller 1st quarter Home Price Indexes had the first double-digit gain since the peak of the housing bubble.

Palm Coast, FL – August 1, 2013 – Corelogic Case-Shiller Home Price Indexes were released today. Home prices surged in the first quarter of 2013. The 10.2% rise was the first double-digit gain since the peak of the housing bubble. Prices rose in 296 of the 384 metropolitan areas measured.

The median price of Flagler County single-family residential homes sold through MLS in the first quarter showed a year-over year increase of 14.8%.

“Record levels of affordability, a slowly improving job market, and very small inventories of new and existing homes for sale will continue to drive U.S. home price appreciation during the summer,” says Dr. David Stiff, chief economist for CoreLogic Case-Shiller.

Home prices are expected to rise 6.5% from the first quarter of 2013 to the first quarter of 2014. The indexes project U.S. home prices will appreciate at an annualized rate of 4.0% over the next five years as rising mortgage interest rates and rising home prices decrease affordability.

Highlights

• Five metro areas recording the laragest year-over-year gains through the 1st quarter of 2013:   San Jose +23.7%, Phoenix +22.8%, San Francisco +21.1%, Sacramento +21.0% and Las Vegas + 20.9%
• Five metro areas with the smallest gains:   Long Island -1.4%, Kansas City, Mo -0.4%, Hartford +1.2%, Newark +1.2% and Edison, NJ +1.4%
• Five metro areas with the highest one-year projected increase through the 1st quarter of 2014:   San Francisco +10.5%, Hartford +9.8%, Baltimore +9.6%, Los Angeles +8.4% and Sacramento +7.8%
• Only four metro areas have projected declines through the 1st quarter of 2014. Three of the four are in Florida:   Miami -2.7%, Ft. Lauderdale -2.6%, Orlando -1.6% and Houston -0.1%