Home Prices Trumping Inflation; Foreclosures Up, Delinquency Down; Rates Steady Despite Volatile Past

Home Prices Trumping Inflation; Foreclosures Up, Delinquency Down; Rates Steady Despite Volatile Past

Home prices continue to rise faster than the rate of inflation and the increase speeded up again in September. The S&P/Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index (HPI), recorded a slightly higher year-over-year gain in September, up 4.9 percent compared to the 4.6 percent annual increase posted across the nine U.S. census divisions in August. The 10-City Composite increased 5.0 percent over the 12 previous months in September compared to 4.7 percent change in August while the 20-City Composite's year-over-year gain was 5.5 percent versus 5.1 percent. After adjusting for the Consumer Price Index (CPI) core rate of inflation, the National HPI rose 3 percent from September 2014 to September 2015. On a month-over-month basis the National HPI gained 0.2 percent from August on a non-seasonally