Top 3 Home 'Price-Gainers'

U.S. home price appreciation slowed down in November 2018, and the list of cities with the greatest value growth in the nation continues to change.

In October, Phoenix took Seattle's spot in the top three for home value growth, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller National Home Price Index, and in November, both metros made the list with Las Vegas, while San Francisco didn't make the cut. Las Vegas was number one with 12 percent annual growth in the 11th month of 2018, Phoenix came in second with 8.1 percent appreciation, and Seattle had 6.3 percent annual value growth for the month, Zillow reports.

Rather than a backward-facing measure of how high rates affected sale prices in November, it will be more useful to see if and how today’s lower rates provide a stimulus in the months to come – especially as the market enters the busy spring home shopping season. Mortgage rates are fairly stable for now, and the end of the federal government shutdown may re-inject some positive momentum into the market after a dismal end to 2018. Throughout the recovery, home shoppers have proven to be both remarkably sensitive to short-term volatility in rates and markets more broadly – and also to have short memories once things stabilize, however temporarily.

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