Take the biggest increase in nearly seven years with some caution.
CoreLogic,® a residential property information, analytics and services provider, today released its February CoreLogic home price index report. Home prices nationwide, including distressed sales, increased 10.2 % on a year-over-year basis in February 2013 compared to February 2012, according to this propriety index. This change represents the biggest year-over-year increase since March 2006 and the 12th consecutive monthly increase in home prices nationally.
The CoreLogic Pending HPI is a proprietary and exclusive metric that provides the most current indication of trends in home prices. It is based on Multiple Listing Service (MLS) data that measure price changes for the most recent month; however, it depends on repeat sales of the same homes overtime, so its utility is limited to large markets. There are just not enough numbers for this methodology to work in Flagstaff. You can read details and commentary by the CoreLogic folks here.
Meanwhile, private employer data reported today showed a potential slowdown in the economy. We’ll know more on Friday when government employment numbers for February are released, but it seems that the slow economic recovery we’ve experienced the last year may be slowing further. The consumer confidence index for March fell to 59.7% in March from 68.0% in February. Jobless claims shot up above the 350,000 mark last week for the first time in a month and a half. The ISM manufacturing index softened to 51.3% last month from a nearly two-year high of 54.2% in February.
People need jobs to buy houses. On the other hand, there remain very few houses for sale, and that will continue to push prices upward. So, we’ll just have to see how things go in the Flagstaff real estate market this Spring.
To buy or sell any Flagstaff home, please contact us: Elite Team at RE/MAX Peak Properties.
