Marking the biggest increase since April 2006, January national home prices, including distressed sales, rose 9.7% year-over-year, according to CoreLogic.
Since December 2012, home prices, including distressed sales, continued to inch up 0.7% in January.
Capital Economics applied its own seasonal adjustment, bringing the increase to 2.3% month-over-month.
According to data from CoreLogic, all but two states, Delaware and Illinois, saw year-over-year price gains.
With distressed sales excluded, home prices jumped 9.0% year-over-year in January. Monthly, excluding distressed sales, home prices rose 1.8% in January compared to December.
Looking ahead, February prices that include distressed sales are predicted to rise by 9.7% on a year-over-year basis, but drop 0.3% from the month before.
With housing still 20% undervalued relative to incomes and 5% undervalued relative to rents, Capital Economics says affordability is also very favorable, with the typical household bringing in double the income necessary to service the interest and repay the capital of the typical mortgage.
With distressed sales excluded, February prices are set to increase as much as 11.3% year-over-year and 1.8% month-over-month.
“With these gains, the housing market is poised to enter the spring selling season on sound footing. The improvements are materializing across the country, with all but Delaware and Illinois showing increasing HPI and 15 states within 10% of their peak values,” said Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic.
Arizona (+20.1%), Nevada (+17.4%), Idaho (+14.9%), California (+14.1%) and Hawaii (+14.0%) saw the highest price appreciation, including distressed sales, in the country.
Illinois (-0.4%) and Delaware (-0.1%) were the only two states that saw a price drop with distressed sales included.
“Many states across the western U.S. and along the East Coast saw average price gains of more than 6%, which is likely to boost home sale activity into the first half of 2013,” said Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic.
With distressed sales excluded, Nevada (+17.5%), Arizona (+16.5%), California (+14.5%), Hawaii (+13.9%) and Idaho (+13.2%) led the price gains.
Excluding distressed sales, no states reported home price depreciation in January.
“House prices rose strongly at the start of 2013 and are likely to perform well across the year as a whole. This is set to be another tear-away year for the housing recovery,” Capital Economics researchers said.
mhopkins@housingwire.com
