Home prices in major U.S. metropolitan areas rose by slightly less than expected in the month of November, according to a report released by Standard & Poor’s on Tuesday.
The report showed that the S&P/Case-Shiller 20-City Composite Home Price Index rose by a seasonally adjusted 0.6 percent in November following a revised 0.6 percent increase in October.
Economists had been expecting home prices to increase by 0.7 percent, matching the growth originally reported for the previous month.
On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, the 20-City Composite Home Price Index edged down by 0.1 percent in November compared to a 0.2 percent drop in October.
David M. Blitzer, Chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices, said, “The November monthly figures were stronger than October, with 10 cities seeing rising prices versus seven the month before.”
“Phoenix and San Francisco were both up 1.4% in November followed by Minneapolis up 1.0%,” he added. “On the down side, Chicago was again amongst the weakest with a drop of 1.3% for November.”
Compared to the same month a year ago, the index rose by 5.5 percent in November compared to the 5.8 percent increase expected by economists.
S&P noted that prices saw annual growth in 19 of the 20 cities, with only New York seeing a drop in prices compared to a year ago.
“Housing is clearly recovering,” Blitzer said. “Prices are rising as are both new and existing home sales.”
“Existing home sales in November were 5.0 million, highest since November 2009. New Home sales at 398,000 were the highest since June 2010,” he added. “These figures confirm that housing is contributing to economic growth.”
by RTT Staff Writer
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