Increased house price optimism among consumers

All of the major house prices indices posted gains in November, which means that prices have risen by between 5.6% and 7.4% over the past year. Moreover, realtors and consumers have been revising up the gains they expect to see over the coming year. If anything, the 2.5% to 3.5% increases envisaged are probably on the conservative side – the 4.9 months of unsold stock on the market in December point to year-on-year price increases of 5% to 10%. Regionally, supply conditions in December were tightest in Western and Midwestern States, and loosest in the Northeast.