U.S. home prices rose on both an annual and monthly basis for the second month in a row in April, according to a home-price index compiled by data aggregator CoreLogic.
Prices increased 1.1 percent in April compared to April 2011 and 2.2 percent compared to revised figures for March. When distressed sales — short sales and real estate owned (REO) properties — are excluded, prices jumped 1.9 percent year over year and 2.6 percent month to month.
With this report, CoreLogic also introduced a pending home price index based on recent prices changes gleaned from multiple listing service data. That index forecasts that home prices rose another 2 percent between April and May, CoreLogic said.
Anand Nallathambi, CoreLogic’s president and CEO, said in a statement that the increases are a sign "the housing market is stabilizing."
"Home prices are responding to a restricted supply that will likely exist for some time to come — an optimistic sign for the future of our industry."
Mark Fleming, CoreLogic’s chief economist, said in a statement that, when distressed sales are excluded, home prices in March and April improved at a rate not seen since late 2006 and faster than in 2010, when a federal tax credit program boosted sales.
"Nationally, the supply of homes in current inventory is down to 6.5 months, a level not seen in more than five years, in part driven by the ‘locked in’ position of so many homeowners in negative equity," he said.
Of the 100 most populous metro areas in the country, 44 saw year-over-year price declines in April, down 10 from March, CoreLogic said. Six of the 10 largest markets saw price increases with the Phoenix metro leading the pack.
10 most populous metro markets, ranked by percent price change in April:
|
Core-based statistical area (CBSA)
|
Single-family change from year ago
|
Excluding distressed
|
| Chicago-Joliet-Naperville, Ill. | -7.3% | -1.1% |
| Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, Ga. | -5.3% | 1.9% |
| Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif. | -1.4% | 0.3% |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, Calif. | -0.5% | 1.2% |
| New York-White Plains-Wayne, N.Y.-N.J. | 1.3% | 1.7% |
| Philadelphia, Pa. | 1.7% | 3.0% |
| Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas | 2.0% | 3.6% |
| Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va. | 2.8% | 3.1% |
| Dallas-Plano-Irving, Texas | 3.5% | 5.4% |
| Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale, Ariz. | 11.3% | 7.0% |
Source: CoreLogic
The five areas to see the biggest annual price jumps in April, including distressed sales, were Arizona (up 8.8 percent), Washington, D.C. (6.4 percent), Florida (5.5 percent), Montana (5.4 percent), and Utah (5.4 percent), CoreLogic said.
The five states to see the sharpest annual decreases were Delaware (-11.9 percent), Illinois (-6.8 percent), Alabama (-6.6 percent), Rhode Island (-6.2 percent), and Georgia (-5.6 percent).
