Region’s home prices rise 2.8%
AUGUST 25, 2015 LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, AUGUST 25, 2015, 4:09 PM
BY KATHLEEN LYNN
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
Home prices continue to edge up in the New York metropolitan area, rising 2.8 percent in June compared with a year earlier, the S&P/Case-Shiller index said Tuesday.
Nationally, prices were more buoyant, rising 4.5 percent over the year.
Despite the recent gains, home values in the region, which includes North Jersey, are still no higher than they were 11 years ago, in September 2004. They are still almost 17 percent below their mid-2006 peaks in the region. Nationally, home prices have returned to the levels of winter 2005 nationwide, and remain 12 percent to 14 percent below their peaks.
“Nationally, home prices continue to rise at a 4-5 percent annual rate, two to three times the rate of inflation,” said David M. Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices. He said that the Federal Reserve’s signals that it will raise interest rates this year could lead to higher mortgage rates, which will make buying a home more difficult.
“A quarter-point increase in the Fed funds rate won’t derail housing,” Blitzer said. “However, if the Fed were to quickly follow that initial move with one or two more rate increases, housing and home prices might suffer.”
https://www.northjersey.com/news/business/region-s-home-prices-rise-2-8-1.1398017