FNC Index: LA home prices inch forward at tail end of 2015

Released February 16, the FNC Residential Price Index reported that home prices in December posted a modest monthly increase at the close of the year.

Nationwide, home prices in December 2015 represented a 0.4 percent uptick from the seasonally adjusted rate in November and a 6.2 percent increase on an annual basis.

National home prices increased 6 percent annually in the fourth quarter of 2015.

“Riding on a robust pace of home sales and new housing starts, home prices in 2015 finished strong with year-over-year growth at a 15-month high since October 2014. If judging on a seasonal basis, December’s month-over-month increase outpaced the same period of the past three years,” said Yanling Mayer, FNC’s housing economist and director of research, in a statement.

Some surprising metros saw the highest month-over-month gains.

• Baltimore, increase of 2.6 percent
• St. Louis, increase of 2.6 percent
• Las Vegas, increase of 2.1 percent
• Portland, increase of 2 percent
• Houston, increase of 1.7 percent

In December 2015, some cities posted year-over-year gains in the double digits:

Win and close more buyers with an exclusive mortgage product

Partner with a brokerage that packages buyer rebates with discounted loans READ MORE

• Portland, increase of 14.2 percent
• Denver, increase of 13 percent
• San Francisco, increase of 12.6 percent
• Las Vegas, increase of 11.9 percent
• Miami, increase of 11.5 percent
• Sacramento, increase of 11.5 percent
• Phoenix, increase of 11.2 percent
• Cincinnati, increase of 10.1 percent

In Los Angeles, home prices increased 0.3 percent on a monthly basis in December 2015. Annually, Los Angeles prices rose 7.2 percent. 

Nearby Riverside had a slightly better presence on the FNC Index. The metro had a 0.7 percent monthly increase and 7.3 percent annual uptick.