Home Prices Surge, With or Without Distressed Sales

According to thernCoreLogic April Home Price Index (HPI) including distressed sales home prices are now up 12.1 percent on an annual basis. In March thernannual increase was 10.5 percent. The April year-over-year changernis the largest increase since February 2006. The HPI which excludesrnshort sales and sales of owned real estate (REO) was up 11.9 percentrnin April 2013 compared to April 2012 It had risen 10.7 percent fromrnMarch to March.</p

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On arnmonth-over-month basis the index including distressed sales increasedrn3.2 percent and the index excluding those sales was up 3 percent. This was the 14^th straight month that the inclusive indexrnincreased nationally. </p

“Housernprice growth continues to surprise to the upside with an impressivern12.1 percent gain year over year in April,” said Dr. MarkrnFleming, chief economist for CoreLogic. “Increasing demand forrnnew and existing homes, coupled with low inventory, has created arnvirtuous cycle for price gains, most clearly seen in the Westernrnstates with year-over-year gains of 20 percent or more.”</p

Looking ahead,rnCoreLogic’s Pending HPI is predicting that May home prices, includingrndistressed sales will rise 12.5 percent on an annual basis and 2.7rnpercent month-over-month. The Pending HPI excluding distressed salesrnis expected to rise 13.2 percent and 3.1 percent respectively. ThernPending HPI bases its estimates on data from Multiple ListingrnServices.</p

“The pacernof the housing market recovery quickened in April as home prices rosernacross the U.S.,” said Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO ofrnCoreLogic. “For the second consecutive month, all 50 states</bregistered year-over-year home price gains excluding sales ofrndistressed homes. We expect this trend to continue, bolstered byrntight supplies and pent up buyer demand."</p