Home prices continue to head higher, according to the latest S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index October report (link opens as PDF) released today.
After increasing 0.7% in September, the index's 20-city home price composite added on a slight 0.2% for October, beating analyst expectations of a 0.1% contraction for this non-seasonally adjusted number. The chart below shows a five-year range for the 20-city index, with the index up 8.8% over that time frame.
Case-Shiller Home Price Index: Composite 20 data by YCharts.
According to the report, home prices increased for 10 cities from September to October, with a 1.2% boost from Las Vegas taking the lead. Chicago prices dropped the most, down 0.5% for the month.
In the past year, Las Vegas prices are also up the most (27.1%), while Cleveland and New York homes added on just 4.9%.
For the 12 months ending in October, the 10- and 20-city home price composites are both up 13.6%.
"Both Composites' annual returns have been in double-digit territory since March 2013 and increasing," noted David Blitzer, chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices, in a statement today. "However, monthly numbers show we are living on borrowed time and the boom is fading. The key economic question facing housing is the Fed's future course to scale back quantitative easing and how this will affect mortgage rates." According to Blitzer, most forecasts for 2014 put home price growth in the single digits.
