Home Prices Up 12.2 Percent From a Year Ago

On April 1, CoreLogic released its Home Price Index report for the month of February, revealing that home prices nationwide increased 12.2 percent from the previous year.

This increase represented all home prices across the country, including distressed sales. Furthermore, the change represents 24 consecutive months of year-over-year increases in home prices nationally. This is great news for the real estate industry, as higher home prices signal a more robust housing market and increased buyer demand.

“As the spring home-buying season kicks off, house price appreciation continues to be strong,” said Dr. Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic. “Although prices should remain strong in the near term due to a short supply of homes on the market, price increases should moderate over the next year as home equity releases pent-up supply.”

On a month-over-month basis, CoreLogic reports that home prices in the U.S., including distressed sales, jumped 0.8 percent in February 2014 compared to January 2014. Although this increase is small, it stands as evidence that the market is continuing on a steady upward path.

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When broken down by state, CoreLogic found that 14 states in the U.S. showed double-digit growth on a year-over-year basis. Colorado, Nebraska, North Dakota, Texas and the District of Columbia all hit new highs in average home prices. In addition, 22 states reached their price peaks, or were within 10 percent of it. This shows that the market is coming back around, with some areas possibly experiencing another “boom” in the months to come.

“February marks two straight years of year-over-year gains in national prices across the United States,” said Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic. “The consistent upward movement in home prices should ultimately prove to be an important stimulant for higher levels of sustained market activity and growth in the housing economy.”

Excluding distressed sales, which include foreclosures, real estate owned (REO) transactions and short sales, home prices increased 10.7 percent in February 2014 compared to February 2013. On a month-over-month basis, prices excluding distressed sales climbed 0.9 percent in February compared to January 2014 figures. Even more remarkable, all 50 states and the District of Columbia showed year-over-year home price appreciation when distressed sales were exlcluded.

New to the CoreLogic Home Price Index report this month, the CoreLogic HPI Forecasts “provide forward-looking insight among the various categories of the CoreLogic HPI,” a recent press release stated. This new forecast metric will help analysts evaluate trends in home prices. Including distressed sales, the first forecast indicates that home prices should increase 0.5 percent month-over-month from February 2014 to March 2014. Additionally, the forecast indicates that home prices, including distressed sales, are anticipated to rise 10.5 percent year-over-year from March 2013 to March 2014. When distressed sales are taken out of the equation, home prices are predicted to increase 0.4 percent month-over-month from February 2014 to March 2014 and 9.3 percent year-over-year from March 2013 to March 2014.

Here are a few more highlights from the CoreLogic HPI report:

• Including distressed sales, the five states with the highest home price appreciation were California (+19.8 percent), Nevada (+18.5 percent), Georgia (+14.2 percent), Oregon (+13.8 percent) and Michigan (+13.5 percent).
• Excluding distressed sales, the five states with the highest home price appreciation were California (+15.9 percent), Nevada (+14.6 percent), Florida (+13.1 percent), Washington (+11.5 percent) and Hawaii (+11.5 percent).
• Ninety-six of the top 100 Core Based Statistical Areas (CBSAs) measured by population showed year-over-year increases in February 2014. The four CBSAs that did not show an increase were Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, Ark.; Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, Wis.; Rochester, N.Y.; and Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, Va.-N.C.