U.S. Home Prices Grow At Slower Annual Rate In November

(RTTNews) - Annual home price growth in major metropolitan areas continued to slow in the month of November, according to a report released by Standard & Poor's on Tuesday.

The report said the annual rate of growth by the S&P/Case-Shiller 20-City Composite Home Price Index slowed to 4.3 percent in November from 4.5 percent in October. The slowdown matched economist estimates.

S&P said the index rose by a seasonally adjusted 0.7 percent on a monthly basis in November, matching the increase seen in the previous month.

Meanwhile, on a non-seasonally adjusted basis, the 20-City Composite Home Price Index edged down by 0.2 percent in November after dipping by 0.1 percent in October.

"With the spring home buying season, and spring training, still a month or two away, the housing recovery is barely on first base," said David Blitzer, Managing Director and Chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices.

He added, "Prospects for a home run in 2015 aren't good. Strong price gains are limited to California, Florida, the Pacific Northwest, Denver, and Dallas. Most of the rest of the country is lagging the national index gains."

Later this morning, the Commerce Department is scheduled to release a separate report on new home sales in the month of December. Economists expect sales to climb to an annual rate of 452,000.