Metro home price gains remain strong

CoreLogic’s latest Home Price Index shows average prices in metro Atlanta gained 16.4 percent in October from the same period a year ago. Prices climbed 16.7 percent in September.

Statewide, prices rose 14.2 percent in October compared with a year ago, following a 14.4 percent increase in September, CoreLogic reported.

Few prospective sellers are putting their homes on the market and fewer foreclosed homes are part of the home sales mix. Both situations are helping to keep the number of available homes low and prices moving higher.

Georgia and metro Atlanta — among the nation’s hardest hit areas after the housing bust — ranked third nationally in price appreciation among states and metro areas, respectively. Georgia ranked behind Nevada and California, and Atlanta behind Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif., and Los Angeles, Long Beach and Glendale, Calif.

The slight increase in prices from September to October is an indication that the housing markets both locally and nationally appear to be catching their breath, according to CoreLogic Chief Executive Officer Anand Nallathambi.

“The deceleration in month-on-month trends was anticipated as strong gains in home prices over the spring and summer slow in line with normal seasonal patterns and the impact of higher mortgage interest rates,” Nallathambi said in releasing the October report.

According to Bankrate.com, the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage in metro Atlanta rose to 4.39 percent last week from 4.28 percent the previous week. Nationally, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was a 4.44 percent. The average 15-year rate rose to 3.38 percent from 3.36 percent the previous week.

According to real estate data provided by SmartNumbers, the average price of a home for resale in the 22-county metro Atlanta area is about $220,000, up from $155,000 in January, and only about $12,000 below the all-time high set in October 2006.