Asking prices stay strong into autumn

Asking prices for homes on real estate portal Trulia's website were up 3.8 percent in November from a year ago, the largest year-over-year increase since the housing recession began, according to a monthly report from Trulia.

In addition to posting annual gains, asking prices showed strength going into the seasonal autumn slowdown in sales, with list prices for the three months ending in November up a non-seasonally adjusted 0.8 percent from the previous quarter, Trulia said.

The report, which covers for-sale and for-rent properties listed on Trulia through Nov. 30, showed that asking prices on for-sale homes posted annual gains in 76 of the 100 largest U.S. metro areas. When foreclosures were excluded from the equation, list prices were up 4.3 percent for the year.

November 2012 Trulia list price summary

Time period

Change in list prices

Change in list prices, excluding foreclosures

No. of 100 largest metros with list-price increases

month-over-month, seasonally adjusted

0.8%

0.8%

Not reported

quarter-over-quarter, seasonally adjusted

2.2%

1.6%

70

year-over-year

3.8%

4.3%

76

Source: Trulia

Price gains, though significant overall, are more pronounced in some metros than others, the report noted. Many large metros fared better than smaller ones.

"Prices are rising faster than at any point since the bubble burst, but the price recovery is becoming more uneven," said Jed Kolko, Trulia's chief economist, in a statement. "Price gains are starting to waver in smaller markets."