U.S. home prices jumped in November at the fastest pace in more than six years, fueled by demand for more living space as Americans stick closer to home during the pandemic, while Boston nearly broke into the top three cities with the fastest-growing prices.

The nation’s home prices soared 9.1 percent in November compared with 12 months ago, according to Tuesday’s report on the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-city home price index. That is the largest increase since May 2014.

Low borrowing costs are also contributing to rising home sales, which have sharply reduced the number of dwellings available. The limited inventory of homes is pushing up home prices. Sales of existing homes rose in December and home sales for all of 2020 rose to the highest level in 14 years.

Phoenix posted the largest price gain in November from a year earlier for the 18th straight month, with a 13.8 percent increase. Seattle’s 12.7 percent gain was the second-highest, followed by San Diego at 12.3 percent. Boston came in fourth at 10.4 percent year-over-year price growth.

According to The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman, the state’s median single-family home sale price was $455,000 in December and $445,500 for all of 2020.

All 19 cities reported larger year-over-year price gains in November than in October. Detroit wasn’t able to fully report its home sales data because of delays related to a coronavirus lockdown.

The Case-Shiller index reported Boston home prices grew at 1.7 percent on a seasonally-adjusted basis over that period, meaning the city tied with Seattle for the second-biggest seasonally adjusted month-over-month price growth in November. For condominiums, those figures were $410,000 and $415,000, respectively.

Home sales may slow in the coming months, consistent with declining sales in the winter, but are expected to remain elevated. The number of people who signed contracts to purchase homes fell in November compared with October, but was at a record high for November. Contract signings are usually followed by a completed sale within two month.