Home prices rose 4.6% on a year-over-year basis in August, according to CoreLogic’s monthly home price index (HPI) released Tuesday. And prices are expected to rise again in September based on the data, says CoreLogic’s chief economist.
“Again this month prices rose on a year-over-year basis and our expectation is for that to continue in September based on our pending HPI forecast,” said Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic. “The housing markets gains are increasingly geographically diverse with only six states continuing to show declining prices.”
The August uptick marks the sixth consecutive increase in home prices nationally on a year-over-year and month-over-month basis and the greatest increase since July 2006. Regionally, the states with the greatest August increase including distressed sales were Arizona, Idaho, Nevada, Utah and Hawaii.
The home price data supports a slow economic recovery, CoreLogic says.
“Sustained economic recovery in the U.S. requires a healthy housing market. You cannot have a healthy housing market without price stabilization and ultimately home price appreciation,” said Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic. “Improving pricing trends over the past few months and our forecast for continued gains in September bode well for a progressive rebound in the residential housing market.”
Written by Elizabeth Ecker
