Home prices rose four percent in December compared with one year earlier, as housing prices continue to rise in virtually every part of the country, according to data.
“Moderately priced homes are in high demand and short supply, pushing up values and eroding affordability for first-time buyers,” Frank Nothaft, CoreLogic’s chief economist, in a statement. “Homes that sold for 25 percent or more below the local median price experienced a 5.9 percent price gain in 2019, compared with a 3.7 percent gain for homes that sold for 25 percent or more above the median.”
In the Inland Empire, home prices were up 4.09 percent in December year-over-year, not counting distressed properties. A distressed property is one in some state of foreclosure.
Forty percent of the top 100 housing markets were overvalued in December, 20 percent were undervalued and 40 percent were at value. An overvalued housing market is one in which home prices are at least 10 percent above the long-term, sustainable level.
An undervalued housing market is one in which home prices are at least 10 percent below the sustainable level, according to CoreLogic.