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Affordability Improves Even as Appreciation Accelerates

Posted To: MND NewsWire

Are home price increases cranking up again? The quarterly report from the National Association of Realtors® (NAR) on existing home sales and metropolitan home prices seem to indicate that is the case. NAR says that the overwhelming majority of the metro areas they track experienced both price gains and very limited inventory growth in the third quarter of the year. Further, after months of decelerating price gains, the annual increase nationally in the third quarter was 5.1 percent. "Incremental price increases are to be expected, but the housing market has been seeing reacceleration in home prices as more buyers want to take on lower interest rates in the midst of insufficient supply," said Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist. "Unfortunately, income and wages are not rising as fast and will...(read more)