The average home prices in the United States increased by 5.8 percent yearly; of most recent was in June with 6 percent and in July with 6.2 percent. The rate at which the prices are growing, however, has been relatively slow with analysts dismissing the possibility of a next housing bubble as seen during the Great Recession.
Houses in Las Vegas, San Francisco, and Seattle reflected the greatest increase according to the latest data from S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Home Price Index.
In August, prices in Las Vegas increase 13.9 percent, San Francisco climbed 10.6 percent, and Seattle 9.6 percent. Miami prices, meanwhile, climbed to almost 70 percent since March 2012, according to CoreLogic.
One factor that drove house prices in Seattle is the 900 percent return coming from Amazon from the first quarter of 2012 until Sept. 4 this year. The growth of the Seattle-based company had also pushed housing prices to increase two times since 2012. Indeed, when the company's shares dropped by 20 percent at the beginning of September, the housing prices in Seattle also dropped by 1.6 percent compared to the average prices in August.
A separate report from CoreLogic also showed that single-family rent prices are also increasing. The national rent increase by 3.1 percent in August 2018 from the 2.7 percent increase in August 2017, according to data collected by CoreLogic.
The report stated that low rental home inventory amid growing demand drove the growth of single-family rent prices. Similarly, however, the rate at which the prices are increasing was relatively slow. The year-over-year rent prices have slowed since February of 2016. The average rate over the last year was only at 2.8 percent compared to the 4.1 percent in 2016.
Orlando posted the highest increase in single-family rentals in August at 6.1 percent, followed by Las Vegas at 5.8 percent, Tucson at 5.3 percent. Honolulu, meanwhile, posted the lowest rent prices increase in August 2018 at 1.2 percent.
CoreLogic also presented a correlation between rent and employment, noting that strong local economies that attract new employees tend to have faster rent growth rate. For instance, Orlando and Las Vegas experienced employment growth of 4.1 percent and 3.7 percent respectively over the same period the areas posted the highest rental price increase. Chicago, on the other hand, had the lowest employment growth in August 2018 and hence posted a low rent growth of 1.7 percent.
The rising housing market in the United States could be downplayed as household income in the country has also increased by nearly 30 percent according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
