Housing

February Home Prices Rise Most in Washington, Colorado, Florida

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Home prices in the United States rose for the 48th consecutive month in February. Compared with February of 2015, home prices rose 6.8%, including the sales of distressed properties. The year-over-year January increase was 6.9%. Month over month, February home prices rose by 1.1% from January prices, which had risen 1.3% over December prices.

No state posted negative home price changes in February. Eight states reached new highs: Colorado, Hawaii, Nebraska, New York, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas and Washington.

The data were released Tuesday by CoreLogic in its Home Price Insights Report for February.

Including sales of distressed properties, the five states posting the largest year-over-year price increases in February were Washington (12.4%), Colorado (10.5%), Florida (10.2%), Oregon (9.3%) and Nevada (8.6%).

Excluding sales of distressed properties, the five states posting the biggest price increases over the past 12 months were Washington (11.9%), Colorado (9.7%), Oregon (9.7%), Nevada (8.5%) and Florida (8.4%).

The five states with the largest remaining peak-to-current declines, including distressed transactions, were Nevada (29.7%), Florida (26.3%), Rhode Island (25.4%), Arizona (24.1%) and Maryland (23.1%).

Peak home prices occurred in April 2006, and current prices remain 6.5% below that peak. Including distressed sales, CoreLogic forecasts national single-family home prices to reach a new peak in May 2017.

CoreLogic’s chief economist said:

Fixed-rate mortgage rates dropped more than one-quarter of a percentage point in the first three months of 2016, and job creation averaged 209,000 over the same period. These economic forces will sustain home purchases during the spring and support the 5.2 percent home price appreciation CoreLogic has projected for the next year.

CoreLogic has forecast that home prices will rise 0.6% month over month in March and rise by 5.2% between March 2016 and March 2017. Both projections include distressed sales.

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