Trulia: Home asking prices up 3.8 percent in October and November

Asking prices for homes were up 3.8 percent year-over-year in October and November — the largest yearly increase to date — according to the newest data from the Trulia Price Monitor, released Tuesday. Even more encouragingly, Atlanta and several inland California metros showed their first signs of growth since the housing crisis began.

Quarterly data showed a 2.2 percent increase in asking prices, a high point post-crisis. If seasonal adjustments are eliminated, prices still rose 0.8 percent, a reversal of the trend toward falling prices after the summer.

Driving the unexpected uptick were individual quarterly gains in Atlanta (6.2 percent), Riverside-San Bernardino, Calif. (5.5 percent) and Sacramento (5.3 percent), all markets that have been slower to rebound than other hard hit areas like Phoenix, Miami, and Las Vegas. All three metros were among the top 10 gainers for the period.

Salt Lake City came in first, showing 7.8 percent growth in prices for the quarter.

Released the same day, the Trulia Rent Monitor offered good news as well, indicating a 5.6 percent increase in rents year-over-year nationally. At the same time, however, asking prices were outgaining rents in 14 of the 25 largest rental markets, including top 10 cities Denver, Seattle, and San Francisco.

Year-over-year rent gains were greatest in Houston, where they rose 16.8 percent from November 2011 to today.