Another housing indicator is showing
nationwide home prices moving up, with prices up 7.4 percent over
year-ago levels, CoreLogic reports. That marks the biggest
year-over-year increase since 2006.
CoreLogic’s home price index includes sales prices of distressed properties, short sales, and bank-owned homes.
When excluding distressed sales, home prices gained 6.7 percent in November year-over-year, according to CoreLogic.
Notably, some of the largest home price gains are in Arizona, Nevada
and California -- places where investors continue to snap up properties
to turn them into rentals.
"For the first time in almost six years, most U.S. markets
experienced sustained increases in home prices in 2012," says Anand
Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic. "We still have a long way
to go to return to 2005-2006 levels, but all signals currently point to a
progressive stabilization of the housing market and the positive trend
in home price appreciation to continue into 2013."
Source: “Home Prices Surge Despite Distress,” CNBC.com (Jan. 15, 2013)