Us house prices up more than 11pc

Photo credit: Daniel Dionne

Property values have jumped 11.1 per cent in the last 12 months, the 25th month in a row that prices have increased year-on-year.

On a monthly basis, home prices grew too, with prices rising 1.4 per cent from February 2014.

Arkansas was the only state to see property prices decline (by 0.3 per cent), while other states enjoyed strong recoveries. In all, 23 states and the District of Columbia are at or within 10 percent of their peak home price appreciation. Furthermore, Colorado, the District of Columbia, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas and Wyoming all surpassed their previous home price peaks in March 2014.

Excluding distressed sales, home prices nationally increased 9.5 percent in March 2014 compared to March 2013 and 0.9 percent month over month compared to February 2014.

“March data on new and existing home sales was weaker than expected and is a cause for concern as we enter the spring buying season,” said Dr. Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic.

Indeed, falling affordability and rising mortgage rates continue to slow down sales activity, while cash buyers and low supply in cities such as New York and Los Angeles are driving up values even higher.

“Interest rate-disenfranchised potential sellers are adding to the existing shadow inventory," notes Dr. Fleming, "while buyers who can't find what they want to buy are on the sidelines creating a new kind of 'shadow demand.' This supply and demand imbalance continues to drive home prices higher, even though transaction volumes are lower than expected.”