Home prices are on the rise across the nation, and there seems no sign of them coming down any time soon. The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) House Price Index (HPI) stated that in the last quarter of 2016, home prices rose 1.5 percent. Looking back, home prices rose 6.4 percent from the fourth quarter or 2015, to the fourth quarter of 2016. From the fourth quarter of 2015 to the fourth quarter of 2016, home prices rose in 46 states and in Washington D.C. At the top of this list was Oregon, with an 11 percent average increase in home price. This was followed by Colorado with 10.6 percent, Florida at 10.4 percent, Washington at 10.2 percent, and Nevada with 8.2 percent.
With regards to metropolitan areas, in Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL, prices rose by 13.2 percent. On the flip-side Wilmington, DE-MD-NJ (MSAD), prices of homes were weakest, and actually declined by 1.8 percent. Further, the mountain region of the U.S. experienced the greatest rise in the fourth quarter, with 2.1 percent, while the Middle Atlantic region, was the weakest, yet prices still increased 0.9 percent.
According to FHFA Deputy Chief Economist Andrew Leventis, it seems there is no sign of any home price slowdown. He further stated that it will still take time to truly feel the effects of rising interest rates, but with housing inventories so low, which is the primary driving force of the increase in home prices, it seems there will not be a decline in prices for quite some time.
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