Housing Prices Rise for 6th Consecutive Month

Asking prices on for-sale homes – which lead sales prices by approximately two or more months – increased 0.5 percent in July compared with June, according to Trulia’s Price Monitor. This marked the sixth consecutive monthly gain. Meanwhile, asking prices rose nationally 1.2 percent quarter over quarter. Year-over-year, asking prices rose by 1.1 percent; excluding foreclosures, asking prices rose 2.7 percent year over year. For the first time, a majority (62 out of 100) of large metros had year-over-year price increases.

Comparing the yearly gains with the most-recent quarterly gains, the housing price recovery has clearly shifted from Florida to Arizona, California and Nevada. Although Miami and other Florida metros had large year-over-year price increases, Las Vegas and other Southwestern metros had faster gains in the most-recent quarter. Tucson, San Jose, and Phoenix had the largest quarter-over-quarter price gains, and no Florida market made the top ten list for the quarter. Meanwhile, tighter vacancies and stronger job growth pushed up prices in Las Vegas, San Jose, San Francisco, and Omaha on a quarterly basis.