Home Prices Increase for Sixth Consecutive Month in September

According to the Radian Home Price Index (HPI) data released earlier in the month by Red Bell Real Estate, LLC, a Radian Group Company Inc., U.S. home prices in September appreciated at an annualized 17.6% from the month of August. This marks the sixth consecutive month of reporting an all-time record month-over-month rate.

The Radian HPI has risen at an annualized rate of 13.9% over the nine-month period (January to September 2021), which is nearly 40% higher than the rate of the same period in 2020. Over the past year, the median national estimate is 12.1% higher. These annualized increases represent the continuation of the general upward trend in home price gains with faster acceleration coming in more recent months.

The Radian HPI is calculated based on the estimated values of more than 70 million unique addresses each month, covering all single-family property types and geographies.

Commenting on the September HPI, Steve Gaenzler, SVP of Data and Analytics said, “Given the rapid rise in home prices over a relatively short period of time, the Radian HPI is constantly mining the data to find signs of a shift in current housing strength — and so far, it seems to be heading in one direction. While there are some indications that affordability may be starting to place strain on certain home buyers, the limited supply is a strong support for home price growth.”

Gaenzler added that, “ultimately while bidding wars may be reducing in frequency, sellers are still receiving above list price offers in many situations.”