Case-Shiller Reports Home Price Gains in November

“With the month’s 3.5 percent increase in the national composite index, home prices are currently 59 percent above the trough reached in February 2012, and 15 percent above their pre-financial crisis peak,” said Craig J. Lazzara, managing director and global head of Index Investment Strategy at S&P Dow Jones Indices. “November’s results were broad-based, with gains in every city in our 20-city composite.”

“It is, of course, still too soon to say whether this marks an end to the deceleration or is merely a pause in the longer-term trend,” added Lazzara.

Low mortgage rates, tight inventories, especially for entry level homes, and strong demand led to higher prices in November.

Home prices increases were highest in the Mountain region on an annual basis but the lowest on a monthly basis. Phoenix led price appreciation with a 4.9 percent annual gain, followed by Charlotte at 4.2 percent and Tampa at 5.0 percent.