Index Finds Homes Prices Increased by 6.8 Percent Year-Over-Year in April 2015

CoreLogic, Inc. released its April 2015 Home Price Index (HPI) today, which shows that home prices nationwide, including distressed sales, increased by 6.8 percent in April 2015 compared with April 2014. CoreLogic is a leading global property information, analytics, and data-enabled services provider.

The CoreLogic HPI Forecast is a projection of home prices using the CoreLogic HPI and other economic variables, the company said. The values are taken from state-level forecasts by weighting indices according to the number of owner-occupied households for each state.

This rise will mark 38 months of consecutive year-over-year increases in home prices nationally, according to the index. Home prices increased by 2.7 percent from last year, and 30 states plus the District of Columbia were at or within 10 percent of their peak prices in April.

Since January 1976 when the CoreLogic HPI began, Alaska, Colorado, Nebraska, New York, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Wyoming, and the District of Columbia reached new price peaks, the report said.

"For the first four months of 2015, home sales were up 9 percent compared to the same period a year ago," said Frank Nothaft, chief economist for CoreLogic. "One byproduct of the increased sales activity is rising house prices, and, as a result, month-over-month home prices are up almost 3 percent for April 2015 and up more than 6 percent from a year ago."

Home prices increased by 6.8 percent in April 2015 compared with April 2014 excluding distressed sales, the company reported. They also increased by 2.3 percent month-over-month compared with March 2015.

According to the index, South Dakota showed -0.3 percent depreciation year-over-year and Louisiana showed -0.2 percent in April, not including distressed sales. Distressed sales include short sales and real estate-owned (REO) transactions.

The CoreLogic HPI Forecast indicates that home prices, including distressed sales, are projected to increase by 1.1 percent month-over-month from April 2015 to May 2015 and by 5.3 percent year-over-year from April 2015 to April 2016. Not including distressed sales, home prices are projected to increase by 0.9 percent from April 2015 to May 2015 and by 4.9 percent from April 2015 to April 2016.

"Old fashion supply and demand, fueled by historically low mortgage rates and improving consumer finances and confidence, continue to push home prices up," said Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic. "We expect continued price appreciation throughout 2015 and into next year. Over the longer term, household formation, up by more than one million over the past year alone, will drive down vacancy rates and create tighter housing markets in many metropolitan areas. This should provide the necessary underpinning for rising prices for the foreseeable future."

Click here to view the complete CoreLogic Home Price Index Report.