U.S. Home Prices Rose At Fastest Annual Rate In Seven Years In October

(RTTNews) - Home prices in major U.S. metropolitan areas rose at the strongest annual rate in over seven years in the month of October, according to a report released by Standard & Poor's on Tuesday.

The report said the S&P/Case-Shiller 20-City Composite Home Price Index rose 13.6 percent in October compared to the same month a year ago.

The increase reflects a modest acceleration from the 13.3 percent growth seen in September and is the strongest rate of growth since February of 2006.

However, Peter Boockvar, chief market analyst at the Lindsey Group, said the rate of growth "should start to slow to something around mid-single digits in 2014 as higher mortgage rates, still modest income growth and a moderation in the pace of investor buying cools the gains."

The S&P/Case-Shiller 20-City Composite Home Price Index showed a seasonally adjusted monthly increase of 1.0 percent in October, matching the increase seen in September.

On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, the 20-City Composite Home Price Index edged up by 0.2 percent in October following a 0.7 percent increase in the previous month.