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Home prices rose 8.3% in December, compared with the same month a year ago, according to research firm CoreLogic Inc. (NYSE: CLGX). That was the largest monthly increase since May 2006. The firm had previously forecast a rise of 8.4%. The data includes sales of distressed properties.

Month-over-month, December prices rose 0.4%, including distressed home sales. Excluding distressed sales, December prices rose 0.9% compared with November, and the year-over-year price also rose by 7.5%.

CoreLogic expects January housing prices to rise 7.9% year-over-year and to drop by 1% month-over-month as the seasonal slowdown in home sales heads into its fourth month. Excluding distressed sales, the year-over-year increase for December is forecast at 8.6% and the month-over-month estimate improves to a rise of 0.7%.

The company’s CEO noted:

We are heading into 2013 with home prices on the rebound. The upward trend in home prices in 2012 was broad based with 46 of 50 states registering gains for the year. All signals point to a continued improvement in the fundamentals underpinning the U.S. housing market recovery.

Including distressed sales, home prices rose the most in Arizona (prices up 20.2%), Nevada (15.3%), Idaho (14.6%), California (12.6%) and Hawaii (12.5%). Excluding distressed sales, the biggest gains were posted in Arizona (16.4%), Nevada (14.7%), California (12.8%), Hawaii (11.7%) and North Dakota (10.8%).

The CoreLogic press release is available here.