Home prices set to continue rising as resales surge

New data suggests that home prices will continue their upward push, driven largely by still-tight inventory and the highest resale activity in nearly a decade

Tight inventory and the highest resale activity in nearly a decade will continue driving home prices up, according to new data from CoreLogic.

On Tuesday, the analytics firm released its Home Price Index and HPI Forecast data for May. The data showed that home prices nationwide increased 5.9% between May of 2015 and May of 2017, and CoreLogic predicts that prices will increase another 5.3% between May of 2016 and May of 2017. The price increases are being driven largely by tight supply and still-rising demand.

“Housing remained an oasis of stability in May with home prices rising year over year between 5 percent and 6 percent for 22 consecutive months,” said Dr. Frank Nothaft, chief economist for CoreLogic. “The consistently solid growth in home prices has been driven by the highest resale activity in nine years and a still-tight housing inventory.”

And recent market disruptions like Brexit could lead to even more growth as mortgage rates fall, said Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic.

“Price appreciation continues to be fairly broad-based across the U.S. From a regional perspective, the Pacific Northwest continues to be the hottest area for home-price growth, with Oregon and Washington leading the way,” Nallathambi said. “The recent turbulence in financial markets should lead to modestly lower mortgage rates, which will provide even more support to the steadily improving real estate recovery.”