CoreLogic Report Finds Home Prices Drop for the Seventh Consecutive Month

CoreLogic, a provider of information, analytics and business services, has released its February Home Price Index (HPI) which shows that home prices in the U.S. declined for the seventh seventh consecutive month. According to the CoreLogic HPI, national home prices, including distressed sales, declined by 6.7 percent in February 2011 compared to February 2010 after declining by 5.5 percent in January 2011 compared to January 2010. Excluding distressed sales, year-over-year prices declined by 0.1 percent in February 2011 compared to February 2010 and by 1.4 percent in January 2011 compared to January 2010. Distressed sales include short sales and real estate-owned (REO) transactions. “When you remove distressed properties from the equation, we’re seeing a significantly reduced pace of depreciation and greater stability in many markets," said Mark Fleming, chief economist with CoreLogic. "Price declines are increasingly isolated to the distressed segment of the market, mostly in the form of REO sales, as the stock of foreclosures is slowly cleared." Highlights as of the February 2011 CoreLogic HPI: ►Including distressed sales, the five states with the highest appreciation were: West Virginia (+5.4 percent), New York (+4.7 percent), North Dakota (+4.1 percent), Maine (+3.6 percent) and Alaska (+1.2 percent). ►Including distressed sales, the five states with the greatest depreciation were: Idaho (-14.6 percent), Arizona (-12.0 percent), Florida (-11.2 percent), Michigan (-11.1 percent) and Illinois (-11.1 percent). ►Excluding distressed sales, the five states with the highest appreciation were: West Virginia (+8.2 percent), New York (+5.7 percent), South Carolina (+5.4 percent), Hawaii (+5.0 percent), and District of Columbia (+4.5 percent). ►Excluding distressed sales, the five states with the greatest depreciation were: Idaho (-9.3 percent), Montana (-8.6 percent), Maine (-6.2 percent), Arizona (-5.4 percent) and Rhode Island (-5.4 percent). ►Including distressed transactions, the peak-to-current change in the national HPI (from April 2006 to February 2011) was -34.5 percent. Excluding distressed transactions, the peak-to-current change in the HPI for the same period was -21.7 percent. ►Of the top 100 Core Based Statistical Areas (CBSAs) measured by population, 86 are showing year-over-year declines in February, an improvement over January when 88 of the top CBSAs were showing year-over-year declines.