Fastest Home Price Gains Since 2004, Inventories Dwindling; Should Mortgages Be Twice as Risky?

Fastest Home Price Gains Since 2004, Inventories Dwindling; Should Mortgages Be Twice as Risky?

CoreLogic's estimate of the annual home price appreciation in September is not nearly as high as that published yesterday (over 14 percent) by Black Knight on Monday, but at 6.7 percent, the CoreLogic number is the fastest annual acceleration in their records since May 2014. The company puts the increase in its Home Price Index (HPI) at from August to September at 1.1 percent. Home purchase activity remained strong in the late summer, reversing the usual seasonal slowdown. Record-low mortgages rates continue to bring out the buyers, including first timers and those looking to trade-up or buy a second home. At the same time both the National Association of Realtors® (NAR) and the U.S. Census Bureau say the national supply of homes for sale fell to the lowest recorded level in September.