“Double-digit price gains are unlikely to persist, but since housing is far more affordable now than it was in 2006, there is less concern that a new housing bubble will occur,” Dr. David Stiff, principal economist for CoreLogic Case-Shiller, said in the report. “As of the third quarter of 2013, the ratio of median mortgage payment to median family income was at a 40-year low and 35 percent lower than it was at the peak of the bubble, even after accounting for recent increases in prices and mortgage interest rates.” While foreclosure sales continue to fall, home price values are expected to slow to 4.2 percent nationwide, according to worldpropertychannel.com, close to its long-time annual rate of 4.5 percent.
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