Home prices up 7 percent year-to-year in March

Home prices were up 7 percent in March 2018 from March 2017, and rose 1.4 percent from February 2018 to March 2018.

According to CoreLogic’s Home Price Insights report for March, it is predicted that home prices will only go up 0.1 percent in April and rise 5.2 percent by March 2019. In Pennsylvania, home prices only rose 4.1 year-to-year, and are predicted to match the national average of 5.2 percent in March 2019. Month-to-month, home prices grew 0.5 percent, 0.9 percent below the national average. However, home prices are expected to rise 0.7 percent in April 2018.

“Home prices grew briskly in the first quarter of 2018. High demand and limited supply have pushed home prices above where they were in early 2006. New construction still lags histrionically normal levels, keeping upward pressure on prices,” said Frank Nothaft, CoreLogic’s chief economist.

The report found that one-half of the top 50 markets in the United States are overvalued. In Pennsylvania, only State College continues to be overvalued. The rest of the commonwealth is considered normal or undervalued.

“The dream of homeownership continues to fade away for the average prospective buyer. Lower-priced homes are appreciating much faster than higher-priced properties, making the affordability crisis progressively worse. CoreLogic’s Market Condition Indicators now indicate that half of the top 50 markets in the country are overvalued because home prices in those areas have risen so much faster than incomes. This is clearly an unsustainable condition that can only be remedied by aggressive and coordinated public/private sector actions,” said CoreLogic President and CEO Frank Martell.