New York home prices up 6% in the last 12 months

Home prices in the New York metro area rose 5.9 percent between October 2016 and 2017, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller index.

The 20-city economic index registered a 6.2 percent growth rate, the largest increase since June 2014, according to Bloomberg. That puts New York at roughly the middle of the pack. Seattle the largest growth increase, at 12.6 percent, and Miami saw the least, with an increase of just 0.1 percent.

In addition to Seattle, Western cities saw the highest gains, including in Las Vegas and San Francisco where the growth rates were above 7.7 percent.

With the economy at a 17-year low in terms of unemployment, and borrowing costs at historically low levels sales are strong and homeowners are able to recover the equity in their homes lost during the recession, according to Bloomberg. However, the growth in home prices is outpacing the growth in wages, leading to potential problems with affordability for first-time buyers.

In month-over-month numbers, New York had a stronger showing, increasing 0.38 percent from September to October, more than double the average of 0.17 percent for the 20 cities in the index. [Bloomberg] — Chava Gourarie