US Home Prices Post Biggest Jump in Seven Years

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U.S. home prices increased 12.2 percent in May from a year earlier, the largest yearly increase since 2006, according to the latest numbers from CoreLogic.

Including distressed sales, home prices increased 2.6 percent from the previous month, marking the 15th consecutive month of national home price increases. 

Excluding distressed sales, which are made up of short sales and real estate owned transactions, home prices increased 11.6 percent in May from the previous year, the firm reported. 

"Home price appreciation, particularly in much of the western half of the U.S., is increasing at a torrid pace," Anand Nallathambi, president of CoreLogic said in the release. "Across the country, pent up demand and continued low interest rates are fueling strong demand for a limited inventory of properties."

The latest CoreLogic data is similar to the S&P/Case-Shiller home price index, which recently reported large increases in April.  

Prices are expected to continue rising during the summer. In June, CoreLogic forecasts the yearly home price increase, including distressed sales, to be 13.2 percent.

"As we approach the half-way point of 2013, home prices continue to respond positively to the reductions in home inventory thus far," chief economist for CoreLogic Dr. Mark Fleming said.

Highlights from May report:

• Including distressed sales, the five states with the highest home price appreciation were: Nevada (+26 percent), California (+20.2 percent), Arizona (+16.9 percent), Hawaii (+16.1 percent) and Oregon (+15.5 percent).

• Including distressed sales, this month only two states posted home price depreciation: Delaware (-0.6 percent) and Alabama (-0.1 percent).

• Excluding distressed sales, the five states with the highest home price appreciation were: Nevada (+23 percent), California (+18.5 percent), Arizona (+14.7 percent), Idaho (+13.2 percent) and Oregon (+13.2 percent).

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

• Including distressed transactions, the peak-to-current change in the national HPI (from April 2006 to May 2013) was -20.4 percent. Excluding distressed transactions, the peak-to-current change in the HPI for the same period was -14.9 percent.

• The five states with the largest peak-to-current declines, including distressed transactions, were Nevada (-45.6 percent), Florida (-39.2 percent), Arizona (-34.8 percent), Michigan (-33.3 percent) and Rhode Island (-31.3 percent).

• Of the top 100 Core Based Statistical Areas (CBSAs) measured by population, 97 were showing year-over-year increases in May, up from 94 in April 2013.

May HPI for the Country's Largest CBSAs by Population (Ranked by Single-Family Including Distressed):