Home prices continue upward march

Home prices continued their upward march in September, posting gains both month over month and year over year

Home prices are continuing their upward march, posting increases both month over month and year over year for September.

Home prices nationwide increased year over year by 6.3% in September, according to new data from CoreLogic. The company’s Home Price Index also found that prices were up 1.1% over August.

The CoreLogic HPI forecast predicts price increases continuing into next year, although perhaps at a somewhat slower pace; the company predicts that homes prices will increase month over month by 0.3% from September to October, and 5.2% by September of 2017.

“Home-equity wealth has doubled during the last five years to $13 trillion, largely because of the recovery in home prices,” said Dr. Frank Nothaft, chief economist for CoreLogic. “Nationwide during the past year, the average gain in housing wealth was about $11,000 per homeowner, but with wide geographic variation.”

“Home-price growth creates wealth for owners with home equity,” said Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic. “A 5% rise in home values over the next year would create another $1 trillion in home-equity wealth for homeowners.”