Home prices were up 12% in September year over year but growth is slowing, market researcher CoreLogic says.

From August, home prices were up just 0.2%, marking the smallest month to month gain since January.

Price gains will slow further, to 0.1% from September to October, CoreLogic says.

Slower appreciation of home prices was expected by many economists given very rapid gains earlier this year, which fueled fears of housing bubbles forming in some markets, along with higher interest rates since late spring.

Year over year, the states with the highest home price appreciation in September were Nevada, up 25.3%; California, 22.5%; Arizona, 14.6%; Georgia, 14.4% and Michigan, 13.9%, CoreLogic says.

September marked the unofficial five-year anniversary of the start of the housing crisis. Given the strong home price gains for more than a year, average home prices in nearly half the states are now within “striking distance” of their pre-downturn peaks, says Anand Nallathambi, CoreLogic CEO.

Still, it may take longer to make up the rest of the ground.

Asking prices, whose trends lead sale prices by several months, were up 0.6% in October from September, on a seasonally adjusted basis, shows data from market researcher Trulia. That’s the second-slowest monthly gain in seven months.

Despite smaller monthly gains, prices are still rising because the inventory of homes for sale is still tight in many markets. Also, buying still looks cheap relative to renting in many markets, Trulia says.

 

 

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/11/05/corelogic-september-home-prices/3435687/