Home Prices See Biggest Annual Increase Since 2006
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iStock/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — Home prices increased nearly 14 percent in 2013, the greatest annual gain in seven years.
Despite the record rate, a new S&P/Case-Shiller report released Tuesday shows gains leveling off. U.S. home prices continued rising from September to October, but the 0.2 percent increase in the period was slower than the previous month when gains were at 0.7 percent.
David Blitzer, managing director at S&P Down Jones Indices forecasts single-digit home price increases in 2014.
“In a normal housing market, some stuff goes up, some stuff goes down, and we’re really in the process of slowly getting back to a normal housing market,” Blitzer said. “Even if home prices do surge up in a few spots and then take a nose dive, we won’t see as many foreclosures, we won’t see houses with underwater mortgages the way we did because there is a lot more equity in houses and that’s the way it should be.”
The Case-Shiller 20-city home price index also showcased a dip in prices in a few cities, including Atlanta, Boston and San Francisco.
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