Home prices in the United States edged up a slight 0.7% between May and June, making it the third consecutive month-over-month jump in prices. However the value of homes in some core areas saw heavy declines. Prices fell 6.8% over year ago levels, according to CoreLogic’s June Home Price Index. Single-family homes in Chicago declined the most, showing a 13.4% dip. Phoenix also saw a whopping 11.4% decline. All other markets on the downswing show a single-digit decline (See chart below). The data and analytics firm, which includes distressed sales data in its final report, said when excluding distressed properties, year-over-year prices in June fell by 1.1% from last year and by 2.1% between May 2010 and May 2011. “While there is a consistent and sustained seasonal improvement in prices over the last three months, prices are lower than a year ago due to the decline in prices after the expiration of the tax credit last year,” said Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic. “The difference between the overall HPI and our index excluding distressed sales indicates that the price declines are more concentrated in the distressed sales market.” The five states with the highest price appreciation rate when accounting for distressed sales included New York, District of Columbia, North Dakota, Alaska and Nebraska. Excluding distressed sales, North Dakota, New York, West Virginia, Texas and Vermont had the highest price appreciation rate. The states with the greatest depreciation rate included Nevada, Idaho, Arizona, Illinois and Minnesota. Write to Kerri Panchuk.