U.S. Home Prices Increase 12.5 Percent

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Home prices in the U.S. increased 12.5 percent in October, compared to last year, marking the 20th consecutive month of yearly increases, CoreLogic reports. 

On a monthly basis, however, CoreLogic's Home Price Index - including distressed sales -- increased just 0.2 percent in October.

"In terms of home price appreciation, the housing market appears to be catching its breath as we head into the final months of 2013," Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic, said in the report. "The deceleration in month-on-month trends was anticipated as strong gains in home prices over the spring and summer slow in line with normal seasonal patterns and the impact of higher mortgage interest rates."

CoreLogic expects November home prices -- including distressed sales -- will remain at the same monthly level as October, but increase 12.2 percent compared to November 2012. 

"The monthly growth rate is expected to moderate even further in November and December," Dr. Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic, said in the report. "The slowdown in price appreciation is positive for the housing market as almost half the states are now within 10 percent of their respective historical price peaks."


More from the report:

• Including distressed sales, the five states with the highest home price appreciation were: Nevada (+25.9 percent), California (+22.4 percent), Georgia (+14.2 percent), Michigan (+14.1 percent) and Arizona (+14 percent).

• Including distressed sales, the only state to show depreciation was New Mexico (-0.5 percent).

• Excluding distressed sales, the five states with the highest home price appreciation were: Nevada (+22.5 percent), California (+18.5 percent), Utah (+13.3 percent), Florida (+13 percent) and New York (+12.4 percent).

• Excluding distressed sales, no states posted home price depreciation in October.

• Including distressed transactions, the peak-to-current change in the national HPI (from April 2006 to October 2013) was -17.3 percent. Excluding distressed transactions, the peak-to-current change in the HPI for the same period was -13.1 percent.

• The five states with the largest peak-to-current declines, including distressed transactions, were Nevada (-40.7 percent), Florida (-37.4 percent), Arizona (-31.5 percent), Rhode Island (-29.3 percent) and West Virginia (-28 percent).

• 96 of the top 100 Core Based Statistical Areas (CBSAs) measured by population showed year-over-year increases in October 2013.