Home Prices Flat in November after Long Climb

The S&P Case-Shiller house price index edged down a bit in the month of November but prices are up nearly 14% from a year ago.Despite the 0.1% decline in November, the Case-Shiller 20 cities index showed its “best November performance since 2005,” according to S&P’s index committee chairman David Blitzer.

House prices usually decline in November as winter approaches and home buying slows.

Nine of the 20 cities in the Case-Shiller HPI posted price declines in November. At the same time, five of the 20 cities posted consecutive monthly price declines in November and October. They are Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Seattle and Washington. Chicago experienced the largest percentage drop as prices fell by 1.2% in November and 0.5% in October.

“Home prices may be leveling off,” Quicken Loans vice president Bill Banfield says. But the 14% increase in the prices over the past 12 months will encourage more homeowners to list their homes for sale this year, he says.

Auction.com executive vice president Rick Sharga noted the much of rebound in house prices in 2013 occurred in the hardest hit markets where investors bid up the prices of distressed properties. But that will change this year.

“With less distressed inventory coming to market, and being less discounted when it does come to market, that factor will play much less of a role in 2014 home prices, which suggests that we shouldn’t see nearly as much appreciation this year as we did in 2013," Sharga says.

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