The summer of strength for the U.S. housing market was highlighted Tuesday by a surge in home prices in June, CoreLogic said Tuesday.
CoreLogic said home prices nationwide increased year over year by 4.9 percent in June 2020 compared with June 2019 and increased month over month by 1 percent in June 2020 compared with May 2020. That is the fastest monthly gain since 2013.
The housing market has received a big boost from lower interest rates and people fleeing city centers in the wake of riots, looting, and months-long lockdowns. Many of the things that made city life desirable—from cultural institutions like museums, to amenities like bars and restaurants, to quick commutes via mass transportation—remain shuttered or are now seen as undesirable. Remote working, which many big-city companies now say will continue through the fall, puts a premium on having space at home to work—something that can be hard to come by in city apartments.
It’s not clear how long the rush for houses will last. Many expect that the market will cool in the months ahead as homebuilders catch up with inventory and the first wave of buyers have landed houses outside of cities.
“The CoreLogic HPI Forecast indicates that home prices will increase on a month-over-month basis by 0.1 percent from June 2020 to July 2020, and decrease 1 percent on a year-over-year basis from June 2020 to June 2021. 2021 will mark the first year home prices are expected to decline in more than nine years,” CoreLogic said on Tuesday.