CoreLogic, a global property information, analytics and data-enabled services provider, released its June CoreLogic Home Price Index (HPI) report along with its June National Foreclosure Report, which provides data on completed U.S. foreclosures and foreclosure inventory.
Home prices nationwide, including distressed sales, increased 7.5 percent in June 2014 compared with June 2013. This change represents 28 months of consecutive year-over-year increases in home prices nationally. On a month-over-month basis, home prices nationwide, including distressed sales, increased 1 percent in June 2014 compared with May.
“Home price appreciation continued moderating in June with its slight month-over-month increase,” said Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic. “This reversion to normality that we are finally experiencing is expected to continue across the country and should further alleviate concern over diminishing affordability and the risk of another asset bubble.”
While Arkansas posted a decline in June 2014 with 0.4-percent depreciation, 12 states plus the District of Columbia reached new highs in the Home Price Index dating back to January 1976, when the index started. These states are Alaska, Colorado, District of Columbia, Iowa, Louisiana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont and Wyoming.
Excluding distressed sales, home prices nationally increased 6.9 percent in June 2014 compared with June 2013 and 0.9 percent month-over-month compared with May. All 50 states and the District of Columbia showed year-over-year home price appreciation in June—excluding distressed sales.
According to the HPI Forecast, home prices, including distressed sales, are projected to increase 0.7 percent month-over-month from June 2014 to July and, on a year-over-year basis, by 5.7 percent from June 2014 to June 2015. Excluding distressed sales, home prices are expected to rise 0.6 percent month-over-month from June 2014 to July and by 5 percent year-over-year from June 2014 to June 2015.
“Home prices are continuing to rise fueled by ongoing tight supply, low rates and aggressive investor buying on the East and West Coasts,” said Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic. “The expected surge in the numbers of homes for sale has not materialized to date, as many homeowners are staying put and waiting for better economic times and higher prices in the future.”
Foreclosures see decrease of 9.9 percent
There were 49,000 completed foreclosures nationally, down from 54,000 in June 2013, a year-over-year decrease of 9.9 percent. On a month-over-month basis, completed foreclosures were up 2.7 percent from the 48,000 reported in May. As a basis for comparison, before the decline in the housing market in 2007, completed foreclosures averaged 21,000 per month nationwide between 2000 and 2006.
Completed foreclosures are an indication of the total number of homes actually lost to foreclosure. Since the financial crisis began in September 2008, there have been approximately 5.1 million completed foreclosures across the country.
As of June 2014, approximately 648,000 homes in the United States were in some stage of foreclosures, known as the foreclosure inventory, compared with 1 million in June 2013, a year-over-year decrease of 35 percent. The foreclosure inventory as of June 2014 made up 1.7 percent of all homes with a mortgage, compared with 2.5 percent in June 2013. The foreclosure inventory was down 3.9 percent from May 2014, representing 32 months of consecutive year-over-year declines.
“While 32 straight months of year-over-year decline in the foreclosure rate is cause for celebration, the total number of homes still in the foreclosure process remains almost four times as high as the average in the early 2000s,” said Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic. “Additionally, there is concern over whether or not we can maintain this pace of improvement as the foreclosure inventory becomes more concentrated in judicial states with lengthier, more complex processes and timelines.”
“The national inventory of foreclosed homes fell for the 32nd straight month to just under 650,000 in June,” said Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic. “Most of the U.S. has reduced its shadow inventory to pre-recession levels, but the Northeast, Florida and the Pacific Northwest remain elevated. The great news here is that the basic underpinnings of the housing market are strengthening, but there is still work to do.”