US house prices up 0.5% in October

US house prices continued to rise in October by 0.5 percent from September, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) said on Tuesday. According to the FHFA monthly House Price Index (HPI), US house prices rose 0.5 percent in October on a monthly basis, the 21st consecutive monthly gain. Compared with October 2012, house prices have increased by 8.2 percent. The increase matched the average estimate of economists, who said that more buyers and investors and less supply drove the prices up. US house prices have witnessed a quick rise throughout 2013 -- about 5 percent nationwide and more than 20 percent in some local markets, making US home value increase by 1.9 trillion US dollars, noted Zillow Inc., a large real estate agency, last week. However, the rise of house prices is expected to slow down to 3 percent in 2014 because of higher mortgage rates, more expensive home prices and more supply created by fewer underwater homeowners and more new construction, said Stan Humphries, Zillow's chief economist.