A national home-price index maintained by data aggregator CoreLogic showed prices edging up from February to March — the first month-over-month increase since last summer.
The CoreLogic Home Price Index showed home prices, including distressed sales, increasing by 0.6 percent from February to March, and down by the same amount when compared to a year ago.
If distressed sales are excluded, the index showed the third consecutive month-over-month increase in national home prices, and annual gains of 0.9 percent. Distressed sales include short sales and real estate owned (REO) transactions.
"This spring the housing market is responding to an improving balance between real estate supply and demand, which is causing stabilization in house prices," said Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic, in a statement. "Although this has been the case in each of the last two years, the difference this year is that stabilization is occurring without the support of tax credits and in spite of a declining share of REO sales."
Largest metro markets by population
|
Core-based statistical area (CBSA)
|
Single-family change from year ago
|
Excluding distressed
|
| Chicago-Joliet-Naperville, Ill. |
-8.8%
|
-2.7%
|
| Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, Ga. |
-8.1%
|
-2.1%
|
| Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif. |
-3.2%
|
-1.2%
|
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, Calif. |
-2.4%
|
0.6%
|
| Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas |
0.5%
|
4.1%
|
| Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va. |
0.7%
|
1.8%
|
| Philadelphia, Pa. |
0.7%
|
1.8%
|
| Dallas-Plano-Irving, Texas |
1.1%
|
4.0%
|
| New York-White Plains-Wayne, N.Y.-N.J. |
2.0%
|
2.9%
|
| Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale, Ariz. |
7.7%
|
4.0%
|
Source: CoreLogic March 2012
At the market level, tighter inventories are lifting home prices in many markets, including Phoenix, New York and Washington D.C., CoreLogic noted.
Top 10 states for home-price appreciation
|
State |
Single-family change from year ago |
Single-family excluding distressed |
|
Wyoming |
5.9% |
2.8% |
|
West Virginia |
5.3% |
0.3% |
|
Arizona |
5.1% |
1.4% |
|
North Dakota |
4.7% |
5.1% |
|
Florida |
4.5% |
2.8% |
|
Idaho |
4.3% |
5.4% |
|
Mississippi |
3.7% |
3.3% |
|
Colorado |
3.0% |
2.9% |
|
Montana |
2.8% |
3.5% |
|
District of Columbia |
2.8% |
1.5% |
|
South Carolina |
2.7% |
4.7% |
|
National |
-0.6% |
0.9% |
Source: CoreLogic March 2012
Top 10 states for home-price depreciation
|
State |
Single-family change from year ago |
Single-family excluding distressed |
|
Delaware |
-10.6% |
-7.6% |
|
Illinois |
-8.3% |
-2.6% |
|
Alabama |
-8.0% |
-4.1% |
|
Georgia |
-7.3% |
-2.4% |
|
Nevada |
-5.8% |
-3.9% |
|
Connecticut |
-5.6% |
-2.7% |
|
New Hampshire |
-4.9% |
-2.1% |
|
Vermont |
-4.8% |
-3.9% |
|
Rhode Island |
-4.3% |
-2.9% |
|
Wisconsin |
-4.2% |
-1.1% |
|
National |
-0.6% |
0.9% |
Source: CoreLogic March 2012
The CoreLogic Home Price Index incorporates more than 30 years’ worth of repeat sales transactions in 6,688 ZIP codes (58 percent of total U.S. population), 617 core-based statistical areas (86 percent of total U.S. population) and 1,166 counties (84 percent of total U.S. population).
