Annual US home prices rise again
ANNUAL US home prices in October rose again, pointing toward continued recovery of the housing market, data on Tuesday (Dec 26) showed.
A Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) report showed home prices grew 6.3 per cent on a yearly basis, up from a revised 6.2 per cent in the previous month.
Annual price growth began to accelerate in June after declining steadily since February 2022. Prices increased moderately by 0.3 per cent on a month-to-month basis after climbing by 0.7 per cent the month before.
Rates on the most common home loan neared 8 per cent in October, reaching a two-decade high on the back of the Federal Reserve’s rate hike cycle.
The Fed left its policy benchmark interest rate unchanged for three consecutive meetings, bolstering expectations of a closing rate hike cycle and stoking a rally in the bond market.
The average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell below 7 per cent in December, as yields on mortgage-backed securities headed down.
Existing home sales have risen moderately since then, gaining 0.8 per cent in November and indicating softening rates may draw sellers from the sidelines and open up inventory to prospective buyers, a National Association of Realtors report released in December showed.
The Mid-Atlantic and New England regions experienced the largest gains in October, of 9.9 per cent and 9.7 per cent, respectively, according to the FHFA report. REUTERS
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