U.S. home prices continue steady growth in October

NEW YORK, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- U.S. home prices kept rising across the country in October, indicating that the housing sector continued steady growth.

According to a fresh report released by S&P Dow Jones Indices Tuesday, the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index reported a 6.2-percent-annual-gain in October, up from 6.1 percent in the previous month.

The 10-City Composite annual increase came in at 6.0 percent, up from 5.7 percent in the previous month, while the 20-City Composite increased 6.4 percent year-over-year, up from 6.2 percent in the previous month.

Seattle, Las Vegas, and San Diego reported the highest year-over-year gains among the 20 cities. In October, Seattle led the way with a 12.7-percent year-over-year price increase, followed by Las Vegas with a 10.2-percent increase, and San Diego with an 8.1-percent increase.

After seasonal adjustment, the National Index, 10-City and 20-City Composites all recorded a 0.7-percent month-over-month increase in October.

"Home prices continue their climb supported by low inventories and increasing sales," said David Blitzer, Managing Director & Chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices.

"Underlying the rising prices for both new and existing homes are low interest rates, low unemployment and continuing economic growth," said Blitzer. "Some of these favorable factors may shift in 2018. The Fed is widely expected to raise the Fed funds rate three more times to reach 2 percent by the end of the New Year." Enditem