May Sees New Price Peaks for Texas, Colorado

Home price growth at the national level remained steady from April to May, while annual growth pulled back again, according to the latest measure for the month.

Home prices in May hit a national index value of $239,000, according to Black Knight Financial Services' most recent Home Price Index (HPI) report.

May's index was up 0.9 percent on a monthly basis, matching April's own increase. On an annual basis, the index climbed 5.9 percent, retreating once again from April's reported 6.4 percent growth, which in turn was down from 7.0 percent in March.

As of May, Black Knight estimates the national index remains off of its peak of $268,000 by 11.1 percent.

All states posted index gains in May. Rhode Island led the pack with a 1.5 percent price increase, followed by Michigan, Colorado, and Connecticut, which all experienced 1.4 percent appreciation over the month.

Among just the 20 largest states, Texas topped the list at 1.3 percent growth.

Both Texas and Colorado saw new price peaks again, climbing to $195,000 and $269,000, respectively.

For the second straight month, seven of the 40 largest metros measured in Black Knight's report hit new price peaks, including Austin, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio, Texas; San Jose, California; Denver, Colorado; and Nashville, Tennessee, which first surpassed its peak in April.

Black Knight's HPI is the third metric of home prices in May to be released this month, following last week's Residential Price Index from FNC, which excludes distressed transactions, and the Federal Housing Finance Agency's House Price Index, which takes its data from mortgages sold to or guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Scheduled for release Tuesday is the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, which track changes in 20 markets nationwide. The Black Knight index is calculated using the entire stock of properties for each area tracked.