The Year of the Housing Recovery: CoreLogic Home Price Index Up 3.8% in July, Largest Gain in 6 Years

CoreLogic Home Price Index, Percentage Change Year-Over-Year, January 2002 to June 2012

CoreLogic released its July Home Price Index (HPI) report today, here are some highlights:

1. Home prices nationwide, including distressed sales, increased on a year-over-year basis by 3.8% in July 2012. This was the biggest year-over-year increase since August 2006.

2. On a month-over-month basis, including distressed sales, home prices increased by 1.3% in July 2012. The July 2012 figures mark the fifth consecutive increase in home prices nationally on both a year-over-year and month-over-month basis.

3. Excluding distressed sales, home prices nationwide increased on a year-over-year basis by 4.3% in July 2012. On a month-over-month basis excluding distressed sales, home prices increased 1.7% in July 2012, also the fifth consecutive month-over-month increase. Distressed sales include short sales and real estate owned (REO) transactions.

5. The CoreLogic Pending HPI indicates that August home prices, including distressed sales, will rise by 4.6%.

6. Excluding distressed sales, August house prices are also poised to rise 6.0% year-over-year. The CoreLogic Pending HPI is a proprietary and exclusive metric that provides the most current indication of trends in home prices.

7. Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic: “The housing market continues its positive trajectory with significant price gains in July and our expectation of a further increase in August. While the pace of growth is moderating as we transition to the off-season for home buying, we expect a positive gain in price levels for the full year.”

8. Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic: “It's been six years since the housing market last experienced the gains that we saw in July, with indications the summer will finish up on a strong note. Although we expect some slowing in price gains over the balance of 2012, we are clearly seeing the light at the end of a very long tunnel.”

MP: The CoreLogic report today provides more evidence that 2012 will be known the year of the U.S. housing recovery. The 3.8% gain in July home prices was the highest annual increase in almost six years, and CoreLogic's pending home price index is predicting an even greater 4.6% gain in August.

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