National home prices were up 4.6 percent from a year ago in August, the biggest annual increase since July 2006, according to data aggregator CoreLogic’s home price index.
The repeat sales index showed home prices also rose 0.3 percent in August from July, marking the sixth consecutive month of both month-over-month and year-over-year increases.
All U.S. states but six showed home price gains in August. The five states with the highest annual price appreciation were Arizona (18.2 percent), Idaho (10.4 percent), Nevada (9 percent), Utah (8.9 percent) and Hawaii (8 percent).
Another CoreLogic index based on multiple listing service data, the CoreLogic Pending HPI, predicts that September will extend the monthly string of home price gains with a 6.3 percent year-over-year increase from September 2011.
"Sustained economic recovery in the U.S. requires a healthy housing market. You cannot have a healthy housing market without price stabilization and ultimately home price appreciation," said Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic.
"Improving pricing trends over the past few months and our forecast for continued gains in September bode well for a progressive rebound in the residential housing market."
Single-family annual price gains, August 2012
| Market | Year-over-year change, including distressed | Year-over-year change, excluding distressed |
| Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale, Ariz. | 21.8% | 16.9% |
| Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas | 6.3% | 6.6% |
| Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va. | 4.8% | 5.1% |
| Dallas-Plano-Irving, Texas | 4.3% | 7.8% |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, Calif. | 4.0% | 6.0% |
| Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif. | 4.0% | 6.4% |
| New York-White Plains-Wayne, N.Y.-N.J. | 3.4% | 3.6% |
| Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, Ga. | 1.0% | 4.3% |
| Philadelphia, Pa. | 1.0% | 1.9% |
| Chicago-Joliet-Naperville, Ill. | -2.5% | 1.5% |
Source: CoreLogic
The latest S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, which include data through July, show national home prices in its 20-city composite index up 1.2 percent from a year ago. All of the markets in the S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city composite posted monthly gains for the third month in a row.
