Home Prices Climb, but at Slower Pace
American home prices in November beat economists' expectations with a 0.8% climb from the previous month, well above the 0.3% forecast. Prices jumped 5.3% on a year-to-year basis in an additional sign that a revived labor market is contributing to a housing rebound. The unemployment rate fell to 5.6% earlier this month, the lowest number since June 2008. And there were fewer job cuts in 2014—483,171—than in any year since 1997.
Still, home prices have grown at a slower pace recently compared to 2013 gains, when November prices surged 7.5% from the previous year, Bloomberg reports. But economists found a silver lining in that stat since it will increase affordability for cash-strapped or first time buyers. That demographic may be especially interested in house hunting in New England, which was the only region to see a month-to-month decline (of 0.9%) in November and whose annual growth was just 1.6%, the lowest of all regions.
