US Home Prices Rise at Steady Pace as Sales Heat Up

Source: ASSOCIATED PRESS

By CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER, AP ECONOMICS WRITER WASHINGTON — Jul 26, 2016, 9:54 AM ET

U.S. home prices extended their steady upward march in May, spurred by rising sales and a dwindling supply of available houses.

The Standard & Poor's CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-city home price index increased 5.2 percent in May compared with a year ago. That is down from a 5.4 percent annual gain in April but still above last summer's growth rate.

Solid job growth and near-record low mortgage rates are spurring more Americans to buy homes. Yet higher prices haven't encouraged more people to list their properties for sale. That is forcing buyers to compete against each other and bid up prices, particularly in coastal cities with strong job growth.

"Sellers are in the driver's seat, as buyers contend with fierce competition and very fast-moving markets," Svenja Gudell, chief economist at real estate data provider Zillow, said.

Home prices are slowly edging back

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