Annual Price Gains Accelerate to 7-Year High

Declines in mortgage and sales activity weren't enough to stop the ongoing rise in home prices in October--but they did slow the pace once more.

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The latest ""Residential Price Index"":http://fncrpi.com/default.aspx (RPI) from FNC Inc. shows October prices were up an average 0.3 percent nationally from September to October. The increase was the weakest monthly gain in FNC's index in the last eight months.

""The deceleration in the pace of price increase is expected as the housing market heads into the winter low season [COLUMN_BREAK]

after strong growth in the spring and summer,"" FNC said in a release.

Part of the slowdown also stemmed from an increase in completed foreclosure sales, which were up half a percentage point to 13.9 percent of total home sales. Again, FNC explained the trend is seasonal, with banks disposing of distressed properties more quickly in winter months.

Year-over-year, it was a different story: October's prices were up 6.5 percent nationally compared to last year, accelerating to the fastest growth pace in seven years.

On a monthly basis, the 30-city and 10-city composites rose an unadjusted 0.4 percent and 0.3 percent, respectively. Annually, both composites were up 7.0 percent.

Measuring the cities in the 30-market composite, six experienced month-over-month declines in October: St. Louis, Missouri (-0.1 percent); Phoenix, Arizona (-0.1 percent); Nashville, Tennessee (-0.8 percent); New York, New York (-0.9 percent); Denver, Colorado (-1.2 percent); and Cincinnati, Ohio (-2.7 percent). Compared to last year, only St. Louis (-0.3 percent) and Chicago (-0.5 percent) posted declines.