November 2013 was a good month for home prices in Atlanta, according to the latest Case-Shiller report.

It was a tale of two housing statistics for Atlanta’s market in the latest Case-Shiller Home Price Indices from Standard & Poor’s.

Though Atlanta’s home prices fell 0.3 percent from October to November, the market did post a rather spectacular 18.5 percent increase year-over-year, which was among the strongest in the nation.

Double-Digit Frenzies on a National Scale

Nationally, the Case-Shiller continued its double-digit splendor:

• The 10- and 20-City Composites, which collect home price data for the nation’s largest metro areas, rose 13.8 and 13.7 percent year-over-year to their best November performance since 2005.
• However, the two composites did fall 0.1 percent from October to November; after nine straight months of gains, that’s the first decrease for the indices since Nov. 2012.
• Still, nine of the 20 cities recorded positive monthly returns.

David M. Blitzer – November a “Good Month for Home Prices”

David M. Blitzer, the chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices, was largely optimistic in his comments accompanying S&P’s report.

“November was a good month for home prices,” Blitzer said. “Beginning June 2012, we saw a steady rise in year-over-year increases. November continued that trend with another strong month although the rate of increase slowed.

“Home prices continue to rise despite last May’s jump in mortgage interest rates,” he continued. “Mortgage applications for purchase were up in recent weeks confirming home builders’ optimism shown by the NAHB survey. Combined with low inflation – 1.5 percent in 2013 – homeowners are enjoying real appreciation and rising equity values. While housing will make further contributions to the economy in 2014, the pace of price gains is likely to slow during the year.”