Home prices remain volatile, with moderate declines expected as the economy remains weak through the fall, loan data aggregator CoreLogic said in releasing results of a home-price index that showed prices were up 1.4 percent in June compared to a year ago.
It was the fifth consecutive month in which national home prices registered a year-over-year increase, but not nearly as impressive as the 3.7 percent gain seen in June.
The June percentage-point "deceleration" from May is "very large by historical standards," and one indication that the "stabilization phase and policy intervention since the spring of 2009 has run its course," said Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic, in a press release.
The CoreLogic home-price index was down 28 percent from its April 2006 peak.
The top four states with the highest annual appreciation in June were South Dakota (6.9 percent), Maine (6.4 percent), California (5.9 percent), and Virginia (4.7 percent), with Washington, D.C., ranking fifth (4.3 percent).
The top five states with the greatest annual depreciation in June were Idaho (-9.1 percent), Alabama (-3.8 percent), Oregon (-3.5 percent), Washington (-3.4 percent) and New Mexico (-3.2 percent).
Prices were steady or up from a year ago in eight of the nation’s 10 largest metro markets: Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif. (8 percent); Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, Va.-Md.-W.Va. (4.9 percent); Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, Calif. (4.6 percent); Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, Ga. (3.9 percent); Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas (3.7 percent); N.Y.-White Plains-Wayne, N.Y.-N.J. (1.8 percent); Dallas-Plano-Irving, Texas (0.5 percent); and Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale, Ariz. (0.1 percent).
Among the 10 largest metros, the two that registered declines were Philadelphia (-2.2 percent) and Chicago-Joliet-Naperville, Ill. (-1.3 percent).
A separate report from Altos Research showed increases in housing inventory from June to July in 22 of 26 metro markets tracked, with the largest increases in Washington, D.C. (5.67 percent); Phoenix (5.07 percent); Los Angeles (4.87 percent); Portland (4.82 percent); and San Francisco (4.69 percent).
According to the Altos Research Real-Time Housing Report, metros showing inventory declines from June to July were Charlotte, N.C. (-3.32 percent), Minneapolis (-3.06 percent), Boston (-0.77 percent) and Salt Lake City (-0.77 percent).
Altos Research said its 10-city composite showed a 0.63 percent price decline from June to July, which, together with rising inventory, signaled "continued home-price pressure in August and into the fall of 2010."
