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Home price growth continued in September on an annual basis, while monthly returns have stagnated, CoreLogic reported Tuesday.
Including distressed sales, the company's Home Price Index (HPI) increased 5.6 percent in September compared to the year prior, bringing the index's yearly growth streak to 31 straight months. The month's increase compares to a pre-revised gain of 6.4 percent reported for August.
On a monthly basis, the index fell back 0.1 percent.
Removing short sales and REO transactions, CoreLogic's HPI grew 5.2 percent annually in September, with monthly growth nearly flat at 0.1 percent.
At the state level, CoreLogic reports all states posted year-over-year home price appreciation (including distressed sales). With September's increase, 28 states and the District of Columbia are now at or within 10 percent of their price peaks, and five states—Colorado, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Texas—have reached new highs.
Michigan and Montana outpaced the others at annual growth rates of 10.3 percent and 10 percent, respectively. They were the only two states to report double-digit appreciation in the last 12 months, reflecting how much growth has fallen off since last fall.
Most of that slowdown has occurred in the market's higher tier, CoreLogic says.
"There has been a clear bifurcation in home price growth for lower-end versus upper-end properties in 2014," said Sam Khater, deputy chief economist at CoreLogic. "As of December 2013, both lower-end and upper-end property prices were up 9.7 percent on a year over year basis. As of September, lower-end prices were up 9.4 percent but upper-end prices were up only 4.5 percent.”
Over the next year, CoreLogic's forecast calls for an even 5 percent price growth. The non-distressed index is expected to slow slightly further, falling to 4.6 percent by this time in 2015.
"Home prices continue to rise compared with this time last year but the rate of growth is clearly slowing as we exit 2014," said Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic. "With more positive macro-economic trends emerging in the U.S., we are forecasting moderate price growth for 2015."
