U.S. Home Price Increases Slowing, but Rise by Double Digits in Four States

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By Paul Ausick Updated Published

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Home prices in the United States rose for the 27th consecutive month in May, but the increases have slowed sharply in the past two months. Compared with May of 2013, home prices rose 8.8%, including the sales of distressed properties. Month over month, April home prices rose 1.4%.

Including distressed sales, no states posted home price depreciation in May, and 10 states surpassed their previous home price peaks: Alaska, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota, North Dakota, Colorado, Texas and New York. Twenty-five states and the District of Columbia now have home prices at or within 10% of the peak price appreciation. The data were released Tuesday by research firm CoreLogic.

Excluding sales of distressed properties, the five states posting the biggest price increases over the past 12 months were New York (up 12.2%), Hawaii (11.6%), Nevada (10.6%), California (10.4%) and Florida (9.6%).

The five states with the largest peak-to-current declines, including distressed transactions, were Nevada (down 38.1%), Florida (down 34.3%), Arizona (down 29.2%), Rhode Island (down 28.7%) and New Jersey (down 23%).

CoreLogic’s chief economist said:

The pace of home price appreciation is cooling off quickly as the weather warms up. 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.

CoreLogic has forecast that home prices, including distressed sales, will rise 0.8% in June compared with May and by 6% in the 12 months between May 2014 and May 2015. Both estimates are lower than those for the prior month.

ALSO READ: Housing Spending Rose in Q1 by 17.6% of Total GDP

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About the Author Paul Ausick →

Paul Ausick has been writing for 247Wallst.com for more than a decade. He has written extensively on investing in the energy, defense, and technology sectors. In a previous life, he wrote technical documentation and managed a marketing communications group in Silicon Valley.

He has a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Chicago and now lives in Montana, where he fishes for trout in the summer and stays inside during the winter.

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