2) Washington
9.6 percent increase in home prices
Pending homes sales in northwest Washington jumped 7.8 percent compared with a year ago. The Puget Sound region had the highest October level of pending sales in a decade. In 19 of the 23 counties that make up the region, pending sales outpaced new listings, creating the perfect environment for higher prices. Seattle, the state’s largest city showed brisk year-over-year gains in home values, increasing 8.2 percent, according to the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller home price index.
