Home prices rose 0.5 percent in October over the previous month, according to nationalmortgagenews.com, as prices climbed 8.2 percent year-over-year, based on data from the Federal Housing Finance Administration (FHFA). Investors have reduced the inventory of distressed properties as mortgage rates rise, and gains in employment are attracting more home buyers to the market. Mark Vitner, an economist with Wells Fargo & Co. says, “What we’re seeing now is more of a normalization. Investors are leaving the market, traditional buyers are coming back and price appreciation is returning to a more normal pace.” The FHFA index, which measures single-family backed by the GSEs (government-sponsored enterprises) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, will rise eight percent this year and four percent in 2014, adds Vitner. MHProNews has learned the index is 8.8 percent below its peak from April 2007. Seattle-based property-data firm Zillow Inc. reports U. S. homes gained $1.9 trillion in value this year, the largest increase since 2005. The country’s housing stock has recovered 44 percent of the $6.3 trillion lost from 2007 to 2011.
