Slight Drop in Residential Market, CoreLogic Reports
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Prices for homes sold in the region during May were down 0.8% compared to a year earlier, an industry index reported Wednesday.
The dip for sale prices in the Youngstown-Warren-Boardman metropolitan statistical area – which included distressed sales – was counter to the national trend as reported by the CoreLogic Home Price index. CoreLogic, based in California, reported that prices of houses sold nationwide in May were up 6.6% from May 2016.
On a month-over-month basis, the local market performance was more in line with the national trend. Locally, house prices, including distressed sales, increased by 0.2% in May compared with April’s prices. Nationally, home prices increased by 1.2% in May 2017 compared with April.
CoreLogic is forecasting that home prices will increase by 5.3% on a year-over-year basis from May 2017 to May 2018, and on a month-over-month basis home prices are expected to increase by 0.9%.
“The market remained robust with home sales and prices continuing to increase steadily in May,” said Frank Nothaft, chief economist for CoreLogic. “While the market is consistently generating home price growth, sales activity is being hindered by a lack of inventory across many markets.”
The tight inventory also is affecting the rental market where overall single-family rent inflation was 3.1% on a year-over-year basis in May, compared with May the previous year, he said. Rents in the affordable single-family rental segment – defined as properties with rents less than 75% of the regional median rent – rose 4.7% over the same period, outpacing the rate of overall inflation.
“For current homeowners, the strong run-up in prices has boosted home equity and, in some cases, spending,” said Frank Martell, president and CEO of CoreLogic. “For renters and potential first-time homebuyers, it is not such a pretty picture. With price appreciation and rental inflation outstripping income growth, affordability is destined to become a bigger issue in most markets.”
Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
