Average Home Prices Rising: At Least from September to October

There is much chatter about “how slow the U.S. housing market is,” but consumers are still buying and selling, and that activity is keeping prices elevated in a lot of metro areas, according to a new report from Florida Atlantic University (FAU) and Florida International University (FIU).

Ken H. Johnson, Ph.D., a real estate economist at FAU, said in a joint FAU-FIU release that a U.S. housing correction has started, but the average home price increased between September and the end of October in 64 of the 100 largest housing markets, including Chicago, Dallas, Memphis, Philadelphia and San Jose, California.

“Limited supply and strong demand continue to slowly push prices up in most of the country,” Eli Beracha, Ph.D., of FIU’s Hollo School of Real Estate, said in prepared remarks.

“However, there are many signs that we are nearing the peak of the current housing cycle in most metros. We are just not there yet.”

Many Most-Overvalued Markets in Florida

Florida continues to dominate the list of “overvalued” markets according to FAU-FIU, Cape Coral-Fort Myers is the nation’s most overvalued market, with buyers paying 67.48 percent more than they should, based on the market’s pricing history. Four other Florida markets are also in the top 10, along with Atlanta, Charlotte, Las Vegas, Ogden, Utah; and Boise, Idaho.

Additionally, Prices are falling in 36 metros, including Boston, Denver, Las Vegas, Phoenix and Pittsburgh.

FAU-FIU using raw data from the Zillow Housing Value Index.