Home prices up 7.1 percent in May

Across the country, home prices rose 7.1 percent year-to-year in May 2018, and they increased 1.1 percent from April to May 2018.

According to CoreLogic Home Price Insights for May 2018, home prices should only increase 0.3 percent from May to June, and rise 5.1 percent year-to-year in May 2019.

In Pennsylvania, home prices only rose 3.6 year-to-year, and increased 0.8 percent month-to-month, both below the national average. However, CoreLogic predicts that in the commonwealth, price growth percentage will increase faster than the national average. By May 2019, home prices are expected to go up 5.5 percent, and 0.9 percent by June 2018. Across the state, the majority of metro areas continue to be either undervalued or normal, except the State College and Bloomsburg/Berwick areas.

“The lean supply of homes for sale is leading to higher sales prices and fewer days on market, and the supply shortage is more acute for entry-level homes,” Dr. Frank Nothaft, chief economist for CoreLogic, said in the report. “During the first quarter, we found that about 50 percent of all existing homeowners had a mortgage rate of 3.75 percent or less. May’s mortgage rates averaged a seven-year high of 4.6 percent, with an increasing number of homeowners keeping the low-rate loans they currently have, rather than sell and buy another home that would carry a higher interest rate.”

The report also found that 15 percent of homeowners and 28 percent of renters would like to purchase a home over the next year, but only 11 percent of homeowners plan to put their property on the market.

“The CoreLogic consumer research demonstrates that, despite high home prices, renters want to get out of their rental property and purchase a home,” said Frank Martell, president and CEO of CoreLogic. “Even in the most expensive markets, we found four times as many renters looking to buy than homeowners willing to sell.”