WASHINGTON–It will continue to be challenging for many Americans, and CU members, to purchase a home, as home prices continue to rise.
According to the Federal Housing Finance Agency, its Housing Price Index rose 0.5% in November on a seasonally adjusted basis from the October level. October's index, which originally posted a 0.4% gain, was revised down to 0.3%.
The FHFA said November home prices were up 6.1% compared to November 2015. The year-over-year increase in October was 6.0%. During the first 11 months of 2016 prices increased year-over-year by an average (including revisions) of 5.93%. The annual increase has been 6% or more for the last four months on which FHFA has reported data.
Home price increases as of November had risen most sharply in the Pacific region, followed by the West North Central and Atlantic regions. Prices were actually down in the West South Central and South Atlantic regions, although barely.
Meanwhile, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported that applications for purchase mortgages increased last week despite increasing interest rates. The MBA said its index, a measure of application volume, increased 4% on a seasonally adjusted basis compared to a week earlier.
According to the MBA, that change brought the index to its highest level since June of 2016. Unadjusted, the Purchase Index gained 2% week-over-week and was 0.1% higher than the same week in 2016, the MBA said. The average loan size for purchase applications increased to $309,200, the highest level since December 16th, 2016.
The average interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 4.35% from 4.27%, according to the MBA data.