Us house prices up 27 months in a row

Photo credit: Cyndie

Home prices nationwide, including distressed sales, increased 8.8 per cent in May 2014 compared to May 2013, CoreLogic reports - the 27th month of consecutive year-over-year increases. On a month-over-month basis, home prices nationwide, including distressed sales, increased 1.4 per cent in May 2014.

At the state level, including distressed sales, no states posted depreciation in May 2014 and 25 states and the District of Columbia were at or within 10 percent of their peak home price appreciation. Additionally, ten states reached new home prices highs, including Alaska, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota, North Dakota, Colorado, Texas and New York. The strongest year-over-year appreciation is in the Western United States, led by Hawaii, California and Nevada.

Nonetheless, the rate of increase is cooling down. The CoreLogic HPI Forecast indicates that home prices, including distressed sales, are projected to increase by the smaller 0.8 per cent from May 2014 to June 2014 and, on a year-over-year basis by 6 per cent from May 2014 to May 2015.

“The pace of home price appreciation is cooling off quickly as the weather warms up,” said Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic.

“May's 8.8 percent year-over-year growth rate is down almost three percentage points from just three months ago. The influences of modestly rising inventory and less-than-expected demand are causing price growth to moderate toward our forecasted expectations.”

“Home prices are continuing to climb across most of the country which has both positive and negative implications for the housing market,” said Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic.

“While the rapid rise in prices over the past two years has lifted many homeowners out of negative equity, it has also become a negative factor in buying decisions for prospective purchasers weighing affordability concerns. As we move ahead, a moderation in home price increases over the next twelve months should help cool things down a bit and keep the housing recovery going.”