LPS Price Index Up 1.5% in April, 4.5% in 2013

""Lender Processing Services'"":http://www.lpsvcs.com/Pages/default.aspx (LPS) Home Price Index (HPI) continued to climb in April, the company reported.

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According to LPS, the index rose 1.5 percent from March to a value of $217,000. Year-over-year, the index increased 8.1 percent from $201,000.

Year-to-date, prices were up 4.5 percent as of April 30. Despite the steady gains, however, the index is still down 18.2 percent from its June 2006 peak of $265,000.

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The states reporting the biggest HPI increases were California (2.6 percent), Nevada (2.3 percent), Oregon (2.1 percent), Washington (2.0 percent), and Illinois (1.9 percent, the same as Michigan).

The biggest metro movers were San Francisco (3.6 percent), Sacramento (3.0 percent), San Jose (3.0 percent), Stockton (2.8 percent), and Truckee (2.8 percent), all located in California; of the top 10 metros with the biggest improvements, the Golden State was home to nine in April (the one exception being Bend, Oregon).

The states reporting the smallest gains in April were Rhode Island (0.5 percent), Tennessee (0.7 percent), Virginia (0.8 percent), Hawaii (0.8 percent), and North Carolina (tied with Texas, New Hampshire, and Oklahoma at 0.9 percent). Metros reporting the smallest gains included San Antonio, Texas (0.1 percent); Virginia Beach, Virginia (0.3 percent); Greensboro, North Carolina (0.4 percent); and a handful of metros with 0.5 percent increases (including Ocala, Florida, and Killeen, Texas).