U.S. Home Price Index Shows Year-Over-Year Increase of Just Over 1% in April, Second Increase in 2012

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According to CoreLogic's April Home Price Index (HPI) report, home prices nationwide, including distressed sales, increased on a year-over-year basis by 1.1 percent in April 2012 compared to April 2011.

This was the second consecutive year-over-year increase this year, and the first time two consecutive increases have occurred since June 2010. On a month-over-month basis, home prices, including distressed sales, increased by 2.2 percent in April 2012. This marks the second consecutive month-over-month increase this year.

Excluding distressed sales, prices increased 2.6 percent in April 2012 compared to March 2012, the third month-over-month increase in a row. The CoreLogic HPI also shows that year-over-year prices, excluding distressed sales, rose by 1.9 percent in April 2012 compared to April 2011. Distressed sales include short sales and real estate owned (REO) transactions.

Beginning with the April 2012 HPI report, CoreLogic is introducing a new and exclusive metric--the CoreLogic Pending HPI that provides the most current indication of trends in home prices. The Pending HPI indicates that house prices will rise by at least another 2.0 percent, from April to May. Pending HPI is based on Multiple Listing Service (MLS) data that measure price changes in the most recent month.

"We see the consistent month-over-month increases within our HPI and Pending HPI as one sign that the housing market is stabilizing," said Anand Nallathambi, president and chief executive officer of CoreLogic. "Home prices are responding to a restricted supply that will likely exist for some time to come--an optimistic sign for the future of our industry."

"Excluding distressed sales, home prices in March and April are improving at a rate not seen since late 2006 and appreciating at a faster rate than during the tax-credit boom let in 2010," said Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic. "Nationally, the supply of homes in current inventory is down to 6.5 months, a level not seen in more than five years, in part driven by the 'locked in' position of so many homeowners in negative equity."

Highlights as of April 2012

• Including distressed sales, the five states with the highest appreciation were: Arizona (+8.8 percent), District of Columbia (6.4 percent), Florida (+5.5 percent), Montana (+5.4 percent), and Utah (+5.4 percent).

• Including distressed sales, the five states with the greatest depreciation were: Delaware (-11.9 percent), Illinois (-6.8 percent), Alabama (-6.6 percent), Rhode Island (-6.2 percent), and Georgia (-5.6 percent).

• Excluding distressed sales, the five states with the highest appreciation were: Utah (+5.3 percent), Idaho (+5.1 percent), Mississippi (+4.7 percent), Louisiana (+4.6 percent) and Arizona (+4.6 percent).

• Excluding distressed sales, the five states with the greatest depreciation were: Delaware (-10.1 percent), Rhode Island (-6.2 percent), Alabama (-4.4 percent), Vermont (-2.8 percent) and Connecticut (-2.3 percent).

• Including distressed transactions, the peak-to-current change in the national HPI (from April 2006 to April 2012) was -31.7 percent. Excluding distressed transactions, the peak-to-current change in the HPI for the same period was -23.3 percent.

• The five states with the largest peak-to-current declines including distressed transactions are Nevada (-58.9 percent), Florida (-46.5 percent), Arizona (-46.5 percent), Michigan (-43.6 percent) and California (-41.0 percent).

• Of the top 100 Core Based Statistical Areas (CBSAs) measured by population, 44 are showing year-over-year declines in April, 10 fewer than in March.