Housing prices in the United States continued to rise for the ninth month in a row to reach a new record high as buyers compete to buy the limited number of units available for sale.
The S & P CoreLogic Case-Shiller index measuring housing prices in the United States rose by 6.0% in October, compared to the previous month. The price index in the 20 largest US cities also increased after putting seasonal variables into the calculation by 6.0% per month.
Bloomberg News quoted Brian Locke, head of commodities, real estate and digital assets at S & P Dow Jones Indices economic indicators, as saying in a statement that “housing prices in the United States rose at the fastest annual rate during October… We are seeing a widespread rise in housing prices across the country, with the rise continuing in 19 out of 20 US cities,”he said.
It is noteworthy that the index measured prices during the period when the average interest on 30-year mortgages rose to about 8%, which led to the exit of many potential buyers from the market due to the high cost. Most of these buyers are homeowners who have postponed the purchase of new homes, while taking advantage of low-cost mortgages that they borrowed when interest rates were at record lows,”he said.
On an annual basis, housing prices in the United States rose by 8.4% last October after rising by 4% year-on-year last September. Detroit led the US cities in price increases, increasing by 1.8%, followed by San Diego by 2.7% and New York by 1.7%. Portland was the only city to record an annual decline in real estate prices.
