Home Prices Up 12.4% in July, Future Gains Expected to Wane

Home prices as measured by ""CoreLogic"":http://www.corelogic.com/ increased 12.4 percent year-over-year in July, the company reported in its monthly Home Price Index (HPI) report.

[IMAGE]

The annual increase (which includes distressed sales) represents the 17th consecutive monthly year-over-year improvement.

On a month-over-month basis, the HPI rose 1.8 percent.

""Home prices continue to climb across the nation in July with markets hit hardest during the downturn leading the way,"" said CoreLogic president and CEO Anand Nallathambi. ""Nationally, home prices are now within 18 percent of their peak levels reached in April of 2006.""

[COLUMN_BREAK]

Including distressed sales, the five states with the highest home price appreciation were Nevada (27 percent), California (23.2 percent), Arizona (17 percent), Wyoming (16.4 percent), and Oregon (15 percent). Only one state reported a yearly decline: Delaware (-1.3 percent).

Taking out distressed sales, home prices increased in July by 11.4 percent yearly and 1.7 percent monthly. Nevada (24.2 percent), California (20.2 percent), and Arizona (14.9 percent) still took the top three spots with distressed sales excluded, with Utah (13.5 percent) and Florida (13.5 percent) rounding out the top five. No states posted depreciation.

Meanwhile, the CoreLogic Pending HPI indicates that August 2013 home prices (including distressed sales) will rise an expected 12.3 percent year-over-year and 0.4 percent month-over-month. Excluding distressed sales, August prices are poised to rise 12.2 percent yearly and 1.2 percent monthly.

""Looking ahead to the second half of the year, price growth is expected to slow as seasonal demand wanes and higher mortgage rates have a marginal impact on home purchase demand,"" explained Dr. Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic.