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Home prices nationwide, including distressed sales, increased by 2 point 7 percent month-over-month in April and have risen on a year-over-year basis for 38 consecutive months, according to the April 2015 CoreLogic Home Price Index released on Tuesday. With distressed sales, which include short sales and REO transactions, 30 states plus the District of Columbia were at or within 10 percent of their peak prices in April 2015. Some states within 10 percent of their peak were Alaska, Colorado, Nebraska, New York, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, and Wyoming.
Excluding distressed sales, the month-over-month home price appreciation nationwide was actually zero point 4 percentage points lower, at 2 point 3 percent. Year-over-year, however, home prices excluding distressed sales rose by 6 point 8 percent. According to the CoreLogic HPI Forecast, including distressed sales, home prices are projected to increase by 1 point 1 percent from April to May this year and by 5 point 3 percent from April 2015 to April 2016.
Housing affordability is up nationwide due to low interest rates and home prices as National Homeownership Month begins in June, according to a recent release from the National Association of Home Builders. Homebuyers are also taking advantage of low-down payment programs offered by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that help creditworthy borrowers who cannot afford a large downpayment qualify for a mortgage. These programs offer downpayments as low as 3 percent for eligible first-time homebuyers.
