S&P/Case-Shiller: Home Prices Inch Higher, Meet Expectations

The S&P/Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index covering 20 metropolitan areas increased 5.8% in November on a year-over-year basis compared with 5.5% in the month of October. That was just above the 5.7 percent estimate from a Reuters poll of economists and marked the largest such increase since July 2014.

“Home prices extended their gains, supported by continued low mortgage rates, tight supplies and an improving labor market,” says David M. Blitzer, Managing Director and Chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices. “Sales of existing homes were up 6.5% in 2015 vs. 2014, and the number of homes on the market averaged about a 4.8 months’ supply during the year; both numbers suggest a seller’s market. The consumer portion of the economy is doing well; like housing, automobile sales were quite strong last year.”