Home Prices Creep Up for Second Consecutive Month

July 1, 2011 (Chris Moore)

It’s not an avalanche, but maybe it’s the start of something good, as national home prices, including distressed sales, increased by 0.8 percent from April 2011 to May 2011 according to CoreLogic’s May Home Price Index (HPI), marking the second consecutive month of gains for the HPI.

Distressed properties over the past year continued to be a major factor in influencing housing prices. Including distressed property sales, home prices were 7.4 percent lower in May 2011 compared to May 2010, but by excluding distressed property sales, home prices would only be 0.4 percent lower than they were a year earlier.

Compared to the market peak in April 2006, home prices have declined 32.7 percent when including distressed property sales and when excluding distressed property sales, home prices have dropped 21.2 percent since the market peak.

CoreLogic defines distressed property sales as short sales and real estate owned (REO) transactions.

"Two consecutive months of month-over-month growth and continued relative strength in the non-distressed market segment are positive seasonal signs in the housing market. Slowly declining shadow inventory and stabilized negative equity levels are also positive signs. Nonetheless, the fragile economic recovery is still critical to the long-term recovery in the housing market," said Mark Fleming,” said Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic.

Ninety-one out of the top 100 Core Based Statistical Areas (CBSAs) experienced year over year price declines in May 2011, which was the same amount reported in April 2011.

The five states with the highest appreciation including distressed sales were: New York (+4.4 percent), Vermont (+3.9 percent), North Dakota (+3.8 percent), Hawaii (+2.5 percent) and the District of Columbia (+0.5 percent). In April 2011, those states were: North Dakota (+4.2 percent), Vermont (+3.4 percent), New York (+3.2 percent), The District of Columbia (+2.2 percent) and Mississippi (+1.4 percent).

The five states with the greatest depreciation including distressed sales were: Idaho (-16.4 percent), Michigan (-12.9 percent), Arizona (-12.1 percent), Illinois (-11.8 percent) and Nevada (-11.6 percent). In April 2011, those states were: Idaho (-15.2 percent), Michigan (-13.2 percent), Arizona (-11.9 percent), Rhode Island (-11.6 percent) and Nevada (-11.4 percent).

The five states with the highest appreciation excluding distressed sales were: West Virginia (+10.1 percent), Hawaii (+9.0 percent), North Dakota (+8.6 percent), Vermont (+6.3 percent) and New York (+6.1 percent). In April 2011, those states were: West Virginia (+8.4 percent), South Carolina (+6.1 percent), Hawaii (+5.8 percent), Mississippi (+5.0 percent) and North Dakota (+4.5 percent).

The five states with the greatest depreciation excluding distressed sales were: Nevada (-9.8 percent), Idaho (-7.9 percent), Arizona (-7.0 percent), South Dakota (-6.1 percent) and Minnesota (-5.0 percent). In April 2011, those states were: Nevada (-10.3 percent), Idaho (-9.5 percent), Arizona (-6.0 percent), South Dakota (-5.9 percent) and Minnesota (-5.6 percent).

Tags: CoreLogic, home prices, distressed property sales, appreciation, depreciation

Sources:
CoreLogic