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Asking Prices Rise Again in Trulia Price Monitor

October 5, 2012

Asking prices rose again in the Trulia Price Monitor, and if price trends continue through 2012, prices will rise nearly 4 percent from 2011.

By Peter Ricci

Asking prices rose 0.5 percent from August to September in the Trulia Price Monitor, a leading indicator in home-price trends that is issued on a monthly basis by the real estate website.

In addition, asking prices were up 2.5 percent from September 2011, and the current pricing trends continue in the final three months of the year, asking prices will improve nearly 4 percent from last year, the first such increase in some time.

Trulia Price Monitor – Markets Continue to Improve

The Trulia Price Monitor is quite extensive, and among the other notable stats in the report were:

• Seventy-four of the 100 metropolitan areas that Trulia tracks for the Price Monitor saw year-over-year increases in asking prices, and even more – 86 out of 100 – saw increases from the last quarter, and nationally, asking prices were up 1.6 percent from the last quarter.
• Excluding foreclosures, asking prices rose 3.5 percent from last year.
• In addition to the Price Monitor, Trulia also follows average rents with its Rent Monitor, and like previous reports, rents continued to outpace asking prices, rising 4.8 percent year-over-year in September.
• Rent gains were particularly strong in Houston and Miami, where they rose respective amounts of 15.9 and 10.4 percent. Chicago, however, still posted the eighth highest increase in the nation, with rents rising by 7.0 percent.
• As we reported yesterday, though, the great apartment boom of 2012 may be slowing down somewhat, so it will be interesting to see how rental markets behave in the next couple months.

Jed Kolko – Housing and Economy Intertwined

In comments accompanying the Trulia Price Monitor, Chief Economist Jed Kolko emphasized the relationship between housing trends and strong economic activity.

“Right now, prices are recovering across the country, with few local markets left behind,” Kolko said. “Price gains are strongest where job growth has boosted housing demand and where declining inventories lead to tighter supply.”