The states with the greatest home appreciation including distressed sales were Nevada (+19.3 percent), Arizona (18.6 percent), California (15.3 percent), Hawaii (14.6 percent) and Idaho (13.5 percent). When distressed sales are excluded the same five states lead in prices increases with only slight changes in the order and number; Nevada (18.3 percent), Arizona (16.4 percent), Hawaii (15.5 percent), California (15.3 percent) and Idaho (15.3 percent).

Delaware was the only state to post a decrease in home values on both the HPI including distressed sales (4.4 percent) and the HPI excluding them (1.9 percent) but Alabama (1.5 percent) and Illinois (-1.0 percent) also showed price depreciation when distressed sales were included.

Including distressed transactions, the peak-to-current change in the national HPI (from April 2006 to February 2013) was -26.3 percent. Excluding distressed transactions, the peak-to-current change in the HPI for the same period was -19.3 percent. Even with the recent price increases Nevada is still down from its peak price level by 50.8 percent when distressed sales are included followed by Florida at 43.3 percent. Other states with peak-to-current price depreciation exceeding 35 percent are Michigan, Arizona, and Rhode Island.

“The rebound in prices is heavily driven by western states. Eight of the top ten highest appreciating large markets are in California, with Phoenix and Las Vegas rounding out the list,” said Dr. Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic.

“Home prices continued their march upward in February. Nationally, home prices improved at the best rate since mid-2006, marking a full year of annual increases and underscoring the ongoing strengthening of market fundamentals,” said Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic. “Continued home price appreciation will provide fuel needed to drive further recovery in the home purchase market.”

News Source: www.mortgagenewsdaily.com