U.S. home prices stayed basically flat in October compared to September, according to CoreLogic's Home Price Index (HPI) report.
Home prices rose only 0.5% for the month, according to the report. Year over year, prices were up 6.1%. This includes distressed sales, such as short sales and real estate owned transactions.
The slight inching-up brought prices to within -12.4% of their pre-crisis values.
Excluding distressed transactions, the peak-to-current change for the same period was -8.9%.
Excluding distressed sales, home prices increased 0.6% month over month and 5.6% year over year.
Excluding distressed sales, 49 states and the District of Columbia showed year-over-year home price appreciation in October, with Mississippi being the only state to experience a year-over-year decline (-1.2%).
CoreLogic forecasts that home prices, including distressed sales, rose about 0.2% in November. It also forecasts that home prices will rise by about 4.7% from October of this year to October 2015.
‘Home price growth is moderating as we head into the late fall and is currently running at half the pace it was in spring 2014,’ says Sam Khater, deputy chief economist at CoreLogic. ‘However, there are still pockets of strength, especially in several Texas markets, as well as Seattle, Denver and other markets with strong economic fundamentals.’
‘The gradual recovery of the housing market continues to be propelled by improving employment, more buyer and seller confidence, continued low rates and, in certain parts of the country, investor demand. The continued actual and projected rise in home prices confirms that fact,’ adds Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO. ‘Based on our projections, home process in over half the country will have reached or surpassed levels last seen at the height of the housing bubble sometime in mid-2015.’
States that saw the highest degree of home price appreciation, including distressed sales, in October were Michigan (10.5%), South Dakota (10.4%), Montana (9.1%), Texas (8.7%) and Colorado (8.6%).