It added that there could yet be more home-price increases, now that there was evidence that the pandemic had started to retreat in the last month and that the economy was also expanding.
However, the report warned that the shadow of the pandemic “remains a threat to the economy and the housing market” with the arrival of winter, pointing out that “nearly half the US population remains unvaccinated”.
Todd Teta, ATTOM’s chief product officer, said that although he believed the pandemic “may finally be heading into the history books”, citing the significant drop in case numbers in the past month, the virus still posed a significant threat to the economy, “with some housing markets in pockets of the country remaining at higher risk than others”.
He added: “It’s important to stress that this doesn’t mean that any one area faces imminent danger, especially given how well the housing market has avoided major problems during the pandemic. Rather, some are more at risk than others.”
In separate data, according to the just-released S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indices, property prices rose 19.8% year on year in August, maintaining the same level as the previous month, although here as well, data suggested “that the growth in housing prices, while still very strong, may be beginning to decelerate”.