Study Shows Modest Gains in Home Prices

In another indication that the crisis-ridden housing market may be finally turning the corner, a new report shows that home prices increased for a third month in a row, not counting so called “distressed sales.”

The year-over-year prices, excluding distressed sales, rose by 0.9 percent in March, according to a study by CoreLogic, a housing analytics service.  Distressed sales include bank-owned (REO) or foreclosed property. When those are factored in, the report shows that home prices across the country declined on a year-over-year basis by 0.6 percent in March.

Some of the states faring best include Wyoming, Arizona and Florida, while some of the worst hit states include Nevada, Illinois and Alabama.

"This spring the housing market is responding to an improving balance between real estate supply and demand which is causing stabilization in house prices," said Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic. "Although this has been the case in each of the last two years, the difference this year is that stabilization is occurring without the support of tax credits and in spite of a declining share of REO sales."

Housing Secretary Shaun Donovan declared last week that the housing market had finally “turned a corner, with declining foreclosures, increasing home sales and a year-over-year boost in the Federal Housing Finance Agency index of home prices undergirding his pronouncement.

Here are the highlights of the latest CoreLogic report:
• Including distressed sales, the five states with the highest appreciation were: Wyoming (+5.9 percent), West Virginia (+5.3 percent), Arizona (+5.1 percent), North Dakota (+4.7 percent) and Florida (+4.5 percent).

• Including distressed sales, the five states with the greatest depreciation were: Delaware (-10.6 percent), Illinois (-8.3 percent), Alabama (-8.0 percent), Georgia (-7.3 percent) and Nevada (-5.8 percent).
• Excluding distressed sales, the five states with the highest appreciation were: Idaho (+5.4 percent), North Dakota (+5.1 percent), South Carolina (+4.7 percent), Montana (+3.5 percent) and Kansas (+3.4 percent).
• Excluding distressed sales, the five states with the greatest depreciation were: Delaware (-7.6 percent), Alabama (-4.1 percent), Nevada (-3.9 percent), Vermont (-3.9 percent) and Rhode Island (-2.9 percent).

• Including distressed transactions, the peak-to-current change in the national HPI (from April 2006 to March 2012) was -33.7 percent. Excluding distressed transactions, the peak-to-current change in the HPI for the same period was -24.5 percent.

• The five states with the largest peak-to-current declines including distressed transactions are Nevada (-59.9 percent), Arizona (-48.6 percent), Florida (-48.1 percent), Michigan (-45.1 percent) and California (-42.7 percent).

• Of the top 100 Core Based Statistical Areas (CBSAs) measured by population, 57 are showing year-over-year declines in March, eight fewer than in February.

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