Rising Property Prices and Acquiring Mortgage Loans in Real Estate

Buying property, home finances and acquiring mortgage loans has been on everyone's minds this year. Home prices grew 3.9% year-over-year in September, and 15 of the 20 major metro markets reported month-over-month price increases, according to the latest S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Home Price Index.

September’s Case-Shiller Home Price Index found that the 10-City Composite showed an increase of 4.8%, up from a 3% increase in August. The 20-City Composite posted a year-over-year increase of 3.9%, up from a 2.1% increase last month. After seasonal adjustment, the U.S. National Index, the 10-City and 20-City Composites each posted month-over-month increases of 0.7%.

In addition, Detroit surpassed Chicago, reporting the highest year-over-year gain among the 20 cities with an 6.7% increase in September, followed by San Diego with a 6.5% increase. Three of the 20 cities reported lower prices in September versus a year ago.

The complete data for the 20 markets measured by S&P:

Atlanta, Georgia

August/September: 0.11%

Year-Over-Year: 4.28%

Boston, Massachusetts

August/September: 0.47%

Year-Over-Year: 5.25%

Charlotte, North Carolina

August/September: 0.46%

Year-Over-Year: 4.71%

Chicago, Illinois

August/September: 0.27%

Year-Over-Year: 5.99%

Cleveland, Ohio

August/September: 0.33%

Year-Over-Year: 5.05%

Dallas, Texas

August/September: -0.13%

Year-Over-Year: 0.25%

Denver, Colorado

August/September: -0.34%

Year-Over-Year: 1.04%

Detroit, Michigan

August/September: 0.68%

Year-Over-Year: 6.72%

Las Vegas, Nevada

August/September: 0.6%

Year-Over-Year: -1.93%

Los Angeles, California

August/September: 0.19%

Year-Over-Year: 5.19%

Miami, Florida

August/September: 0.59%

Year-Over-Year: 4.96%

Minneapolis, Minnesota

August/September: -0.43%

Year-Over-Year: 2.36%

New York, New York

August/September: 0.62%

Year-Over-Year: 6.29%

Phoenix, Arizona

August/September: 0.54%

Year-Over-Year: -1.2%

Portland, Oregon

August/September: -0.41%

Year-Over-Year: -0.65%

San Diego, California

August/September: 0.05%

Year-Over-Year: 6.49%

San Francisco, California

August/September: 0.06%

Year-Over-Year: 0.49%

Seattle, Washington

August/September: -0.53%

Year-Over-Year: 0.94%

Tampa, Florida

August/September: 0.54%

Year-Over-Year: 1.48%

Washington, D.C.

August/September: 0.13%

Year-Over-Year: 4.43%

The takeaways:

“U.S. home prices continued their rally in September 2023,” said Craig J. Lazzara, managing director at S&P DJI. “We’ve commented before on the breadth of the housing market’s strength, which continued to be impressive.

“Although this year’s increase in mortgage rates has surely suppressed the quantity of homes sold, the relative shortage of inventory for sale has been a solid support for prices. Unless higher rates or exogenous events lead to general economic weakness, the breadth and strength of this month’s report are consistent with an optimistic view of future results,” concluded Lazzara.

Dr. Selma Hepp, chief economist at CoreLogic, commented:

“The speeding up of annual home price growth reflects much of the pent-up demand that exists in the housing market amid very low inventories. Also, recent robust price appreciation in some of the largest metro areas, such as Los Angeles, Boston, New York and Miami are contributing to overall strength of the national price surge and reflect continued migration patterns that motivate price trends in many parts of the country. Nevertheless, home prices are feeling the weight of high mortgage rates, which will slow the rate of price growth in the coming months. Still, despite the dramatic increase in cost of homeownership, home prices have risen 6.4% so far this year—meaningfully beyond expectations given the rise in borrowing costs.”

Realtor.com® Sr. Economic Research Analyst Hannah Jones commented:

“Today’s S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Index showed the impact of housing demand met with limited supply, as home prices continued on their upward trajectory into the early fall.

“While existing-home sales fell in September, pending home sales and new-home sales—both of which are based on contract signings—ticked up compared to the previous month, indicating slightly more energy in the housing market looking forward. Mortgage rates climbed through this period, and while higher rates generally hurt buyer demand, a renewed climb can encourage shoppers to lock in a rate before it moves higher.

“Though high home prices and elevated mortgage rates mean that financing a home purchase remains out of reach for many households, the rental market offers a glimmer of hope. Rent prices fell for the fifth consecutive month in September as multi-family completions climbed both month-over-month and year-over-year. Rental properties, especially more affordable units, were snapped up quickly in the second quarter of 2022, indicating strong rental demand amid waning demand in the for-sale space.”

For the full report, click here.

home finances, buying property, mortgage loan, real estate

Contact Me

Are you a Homeowner or Renter?

• Poll_Editor_Answer_Placeholder