May 9, 2012 (Chris Moore)
National monthly home prices increased for the first time since July of 2011 during March according to CoreLogic’s March Home Price Index (HPI), but still couldn’t climb above the previous year’s levels.
Including distressed property sales, home prices in March were 0.6 percent higher than in February and were only 0.6 percent lower than in March of last year. It was the first time in eight months that home prices have increased from the previous month.
Excluding distressed properties, monthly home prices showed improvement for a third consecutive month and were 0.9 percent higher than in March of last year.
Nevada (-59.9 percent) continued to post the largest decline in home prices since the market peaked in 2006 followed by Arizona (-48.6 percent), Florida (-48.1 percent), Michigan (-45.1 percent) and California (-42.7 percent). That was little changed from last month’s list of worst performing states which included Nevada (-60.2 percent), Arizona (-50.8 percent), Florida (-48.6 percent), Michigan (-44.0 percent) and California (-43.7 percent).
Since the market peak in April 2006, home prices have declined 33.7 percent when including distressed property sales and when excluding distressed property sales, home prices have dropped 24.5 percent since the market peak.
CoreLogic defines distressed property sales as short sales and real estate owned (REO) transactions.
Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic, stated, “This spring the housing market is responding to an improving balance between real estate supply and demand which is causing stabilization in house prices. 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.”
Fifty-seven out of the top 100 Core Based Statistical Areas (CBSAs) experienced year-over-year price declines in March, which was eight less than the revised amount reported in February.
The five states with the highest year-over-year (YOY) appreciation including distressed sales were: Wyoming (+5.9 percent), West Virginia (+5.3 percent), Arizona (+5.1 percent), North Dakota (+4.7 percent) and Florida (+4.5 percent). In February, those states were: West Virginia (+8.6 percent), Michigan (+5.8 percent), Florida (+4.7 percent), Arizona (+4.5 percent) and South Dakota (+4.1 percent).
The five states with the greatest YOY depreciation including distressed sales were: Delaware (-10.6 percent), Illinois (-8.3 percent), Alabama (-8.0 percent), Georgia (-7.3 percent) and Nevada (-5.8 percent). In February, those states were: Delaware (-11.2 percent), Connecticut (-7.9 percent), Rhode Island (-7.8 percent), Illinois (-7.1 percent) and Georgia (-6.6 percent).
The five states with the highest YOY appreciation excluding distressed sales were: Idaho (+5.4 percent), North Dakota (+5.1 percent), South Carolina (+4.7 percent), Montana (+3.5 percent) and Kansas (+3.4 percent). In February, those states were: South Dakota (+5.9 percent), West Virginia (+5.6 percent), Maine (+4.5 percent), Utah (+3.7 percent) and Montana (+3.6 percent).
The five states with the greatest YOY depreciation excluding distressed sales were: Delaware (-7.6 percent), Alabama (-4.1 percent), Nevada (-3.9 percent), Vermont (-3.9 percent) and Rhode Island (-2.9 percent). In February, those states were: Delaware (-8.7 percent), Connecticut (-4.9 percent), Nevada (-4.6 percent), Vermont (-4.0 percent) and Minnesota (-3.3 percent).
Tags: CoreLogic, home prices, distressed property sales, appreciation, depreciation
Sources:
CoreLogic
