U.S. home prices, including distressed sales, increased 2.7% in April compared to March and were up 6.8% compared to April 2014, according to CoreLogic's home price index (HPI) report.
Excluding distressed sales, prices increased 2.3% month over month and were up 6.8% year over year.
The increase in April brought the average U.S. home price, including distressed transactions, to within 9% of its peak in April 2006.
Excluding distressed transactions, the increase brought the average home price to within 5.1% of the peak.
States that saw the largest year over year increases in home prices in April – including distressed sales – were South Carolina (11.4%), Colorado (9.7%), Washington (9.1%), Florida (9%) and Texas (8.3%).
Excluding distressed sales, states that saw the biggest increases were South Carolina (10%), Florida (9.5%), Colorado (9.3%), Washington (8.7%) and Texas (8.2%).
Including distressed sales, only four states experienced year-over-year home price depreciation in April: Massachusetts (-1.7%), Louisiana (-1.5%), Connecticut (-1.1%) and Maryland (-0.7%).
Excluding distressed sales, only South Dakota (-0.3%) and Louisiana (-0.2%) showed year-over-year depreciation in April.
CoreLogic forecasts that home prices, including distressed sales, will increase 1.1% in May and will rise about 5.3% by April 2016.
Excluding distressed sales, home prices are projected to increase by 0.9% in May compared to April and by 4.9% by April 2016.
‘For the first four months of 2015, home sales were up nine percent compared to the same period a year ago,’ says Frank Nothaft, chief economist for CoreLogic, in a release. ‘One byproduct of the increased sales activity is rising house prices, and, as a result, month-over-month home prices are up almost three percent for April 2015 and up more than six percent from a year ago.’
‘Old fashion supply and demand, fueled by historically low mortgage rates and improving consumer finances and confidence, continue to push home prices up,’ adds Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic. ‘We expect continued price appreciation throughout 2015 and into next year. Over the longer term, household formation, up by more than one million over the past year alone, will drive down vacancy rates and create tighter housing markets in many metropolitan areas. This should provide the necessary underpinning for rising prices for the foreseeable future.’