5% leap in home prices gauged

Gain most since July ’06, data say

A sale sign marks a house in Glenview, Ill., in early October. Prices for single-family homes rose 5 percent in September, compared to the same month a year ago, according to data analyst CoreLogic.
A sale sign marks a house in Glenview, Ill., in early October. Prices for single-family homes rose 5 percent in September, compared to the same month a year ago, according to data analyst CoreLogic.

— A measure of U.S. home prices jumped 5 percent in September compared with a year ago, the largest yearover-year increase since July 2006. The gain reported by CoreLogic offered more evidence of a sustainable housing recovery.

The real estate data provider also said Tuesday that prices declined 0.3 percent in September from August, the first drop after six-straight increases. The monthly figures are not seasonally adjusted. Business data analyst CoreLogic said the monthly decline reflects the end of the summer homebuying season and not a softening in the housing recovery.

“Home prices are responding to better market fundamentals, such as reduced inventories and improved buyer demand,” Anand Nallathambi, Core-Logic’s chief executive, said in a statement. “So far this year, we’re seeing clear signs of stabilization and improvement that show promise for a gradual recovery in the residential housing market.”

Steady price increases should give the housing market more momentum when home sales pick up in the spring. Rising prices encourage more homeowners to sell their homes and entice would-be buyers to purchase homes before prices rise further.

Other measures also have shown healthy gains in home prices over the past year. The Standard & Poor’s/Case Shiller 20-city index rose 2 percent in August compared with a year ago, a faster pace than the previous month.

The price gains in the past year reported by CoreLogic were widespread. Prices have risen in all but seven states. And they declined in only 18 out of 100 large cities that are tracked by the index.

Some of the biggest increases were in states that suffered the worst from the housing bust. Home prices in Arizona jumped 18.7 percent in the past year, the most of any state. Home prices in Idaho rose 13.1 percent, the second-largest. Nevada’s home values rose 11 percent.

Home prices jumped 22.1 percent in Phoenix, the metro area with the biggest gain. Prices in Houston rose 6.6 percent, the second-highest increase.

The states with the biggest drops were Rhode Island (3.5 percent) and Illinois (2.3 percent).

CoreLogic’s price index is based on repeat sales of the same homes and tracks their price changes over time.

Several reports last month showed that the housing market is improving, though from depressed levels.

Homebuilders started new homes and apartments at the fastest pace in more than four years in September. They also requested the most building permits in four years, a sign that many are confident that home-sale gains will continue.

New-home sales jumped last month to the highest annual pace in the past 2 1/2 years. Sales of previously occupied homes dipped in September but have risen steadily in the past year.

Sales of new and previously owned homes are still below levels that are consistent with a healthy housing market. That’s partly because the supply of available homes for sale remains low. And many prospective homebuyers are struggling to qualify for a mortgage or scrape together the bigger down payments that many banks are requiring.

Information for this article was contributed by Tiffany Hsu of the Los Angeles Times.

Business, Pages 33 on 11/07/2012

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