U.S. Home Values Up 1.2% Month-Over-Month and 19.3% Year-Over-Year

Zillow, the Seattle-based, online real estate marketplace company, is reporting in their Zillow® November Market Report that home value growth continues in most larger markets while inventory continues to decline. The report suggests that, as a result, the competition in the marketplace will continue through this winter.

In November, U.S. home values increased 1.2% from October and year-over-year they are 19.3% higher. This is a record high for price appreciation for any 12-month period in this century. The report notes that while monthly growth slowed nationally, it accelerated in 30 of the 50 largest metro areas. If this trend continues, the market cooling over the past few months may be short-lived, and this could be an unseasonably warm winter housing market.

In remarks prepared for the November Market Report release, Jeff Tucker, Zillow’s senior economist said, “Home buyers angling for a bargain this winter are finding the shelves nearly bare, as inventory has shrunk even faster than in a typical November. Buyers will find some silver linings to this cloudy winter market, like fewer bidding wars and the typical home lingering longer on the market before the seller accepts an offer. But that’s small comfort to buyers after a year in which prices have risen by almost 20%.”

On the rental front, rent growth is also slowing as we get deeper into the typically slower winter season. The typical U.S. rent is up 15.2% year-over-year to $1,867, but monthly growth fell to 0.9% — the first month rent has grown less than 1% since March.