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Alternate Home Price Indices Record Weaker Gains

While the """"S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices"""":http://www.themreport.com/articles/home-prices-jump-136-in-october-2013-12-31 for October showed a significant 13.6 percent year-over-year leap, other measures saw more subdued gains for the month.

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""""Lender Processing Services'"""":http://www.lpsvcs.com/Pages/default.aspx (LPS) monthly Home Price Index--released a day before the Case-Shiller figures--climbed to $232,000 in October, putting prices about 8.2 percent higher than they were at the start of 2013.

Annually, LPS' index was up approximately 8.8 percent, a minor increase compared to the annual improvement in the Case-Shiller index. Monthly, gains came to about 0.1 percent, also down relative to the Case-Shiller report.

Of the largest state markets, all posted a monthly gain of less than 1 percentage point, with Rhode Island topping out at 0.8 percent. Following that were Massachusetts, Georgia, and New York, which all saw 0.7 percent price increases.

The story was similar for price declines, with Oklahoma reporting the greatest monthly depreciation at -0.4 percent and New Mexico, Tennessee, and Washington all reporting -0.3 percent price changes.

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A separate home price index from Zillow also recorded weaker gains, although Zillow's latest assessment tracked price movements during the month of November. More than three-quarters of the metros tracked by the company experienced price increases in November.

Zillow’s Home Value Index (HVI) stood at $168,900 in November, an increase of 0.6 percent month-over-month. On a yearly basis, the company's index was up 7.1 percent, reflecting a slight slowdown from the 7.3 percent peak recorded in the summer.

“Much of this year’s rapid growth in home values can be attributed to very strong demand, as low mortgage interest rates, relatively low home prices, and a slowly improving economy helped draw buyers into the market,” said Zillow chief economist Dr. Stan Humphries. “Those dynamics are now giving way to more moderating influences, including rising mortgage interest rates, flagging investor demand, and slowly increasing for-sale inventory.”

Out of the 485 markets tracked by Zillow, 77.1 percent experienced home value appreciation between October and November, with 19.6 percent reporting declines. Annually, about 88 percent saw home values increase.

Major markets where home values rose the most over the last year include Las Vegas (+30.9 percent), Riverside (+29.2 percent), and Sacramento (+25 percent), according to Zillow.

For the next 12-month period, the company anticipates a fairly significant leveling off in appreciation rates, with values rising an estimated 4.6 percent to a national average of $176,731.

According to Humphries, the slowdown """"will contribute to a more balanced market, and will help to ease some emerging affordability problems in a handful of very hot markets, particularly in California.”