House prices in major U.S. cities rose 9.3% annually, the highest in seven years

> House prices in major U.S. cities rose 9.3% annually, the highest in seven years. On Tuesday, according to the spread of the S&P/Case-Shiller House Price Index for 20 major U.S. cities, 2...

House prices in major U.S. cities rose 9.3% annually, the highest in seven years. On Tuesday, according to the spread of the S&P/Case-Shiller House Price Index for 20 major U.S. cities, U.S. home prices rose 9.3% in February from the same period a year ago, reaching the highest level in seven years. Increased demand for homes, a reduction in the inventory of homes for sale and fewer foreclosures have created an imbalance between supply and demand for homes, pushing up home prices. According to the index, housing prices in 20 major cities in the United States have increased for the second consecutive month compared with the same period last year. Atlanta's housing prices rose 16.5%, the largest increase in 21 years, and Dallas's rose 7.1%, the largest increase in 12 years. Compared with the same period last year, Phoenix home prices increased by 23%, ranking first among cities, followed by San Francisco and Las Vegas, with increases of 19% and 18% respectively. Three Eastern seaboard cities, New York, Boston and Chicago, saw the smallest increases compared with the same period a year ago. But Stan Humphries, chief economist at Zillow, a real estate information website, warned that "this housing price index does not broadly reflect the U.S. housing market." He believes that the increase in housing prices in large cities does not effectively reflect the situation of U.S. housing prices, and the reduction in foreclosures will make the increase in housing prices appear unusually sharp. Robert Shiller, co-founder of the index, also said, "The upward trend in housing prices may only be a short-term phenomenon. After adjusting for inflation, housing prices in 10 years will not be far from what they are now." He believes that the Federal Reserve purchases 85 billion yuan in bonds every month to keep mortgage interest rates at a low level, causing the housing market to be in an "abnormal economy." Shiller pointed out that the largest increase in housing prices is currently for multi-family residences, not single-family houses, reflecting the overall trend of shifting from homeownership to renting. He suggested that those who intend to invest in real estate should buy a house that is suitable for conversion to rental.