The housing recovery is undeniable even if some people believe it's built on artificial lifts or unlikely to last long-term.

Real estate analytics firm CoreLogic analyzed the current housing market in its September MarketPulse survey and found home prices trending higher as mortgage delinquencies continue to fall.

Home prices, with distressed sales included, grew 12.4% from last year, posting their seventeenth consecutive monthly year-over-year price increase, CoreLogic said.

And some of the regions picking up the most steam were those hardest-hit in the midst of the recession.

The five states experiencing the most price appreciation included Nevada (prices up 27%), California (23.2%), Arizona (17%), Wyoming (16.4%) and Oregon (15%).  Nevada, California and Arizona are coming back from steep price drops after being named among some of the hardest-hit states during the recession.

As of July 2013, approximately 949,000 homes in the U.S. sat in some stage of foreclosure, compared to 1.4 million in July 2012, a year-over-year decrease of 32%.

The foreclosure inventory fell 4.4% from just June to July.

Overall, total home sales climbed 15% year-over-year in July 2013, as previously owned home sales skyrocketed 25%.