Home price increases moderated slightly in April, at least as measured by the CoreLogic Home Price Index (HPI). The company announced an increase of 6.9 percent compared prices in April 2016, falling off a bit from the year-over-year appreciation rate of 7.1 percent in March. Over the first four months of the year CoreLogic's HPI has averaged annual increases of 6.98 percent.
Prices continued to soar in Washington State, up 12 percent on an annual basis. Utah replaced Oregon in second position with a gain of 10.1 percent and Oregon prices rose 9.1 percent. Only two states experienced price declines, Wyoming and Delaware at 3.9 percent and 0.2 percent respectively.
Home prices nationwide, including distressed sales, were up 1.6 percent from the March level, tying an identical increase from February to March for the largest gain since April 2016.
CoreLogic is forecasting that prices will increase by 5.1 percent from April 2017 to April 2018. The company's forward-looking HPI uses state-level forecasts based on its current HPI and other economic variables. The company also forecasts that prices will rise by 0.7 percent between April and May.
"Mortgage rates in April dipped back to their lowest level since November of last year, spurring home-buying activity," said Dr. Frank Nothaft, chief economist for CoreLogic. "In some metro areas, there has been a bidding frenzy as multiple contracts are placed on a single home. This has led home-price growth to outpace rent gains. Nationally, home prices were up 6.9 percent over the last year, while rent growth for single-family rental homes recorded a 3 percent rise through April, according to the CoreLogic Single-Family Rental Index."
"Interest rates on fixed-rate mortgages are down by one-fourth of a percentage point since mid-March, just in time to support the spring home-buying season," said Frank Martell, president and CEO of CoreLogic. "Some metro areas have low for-sale inventory, short time-on-market trends and homes that sell above the list price. Geographically, gains were strongest in the West with Washington and Utah posting double-digit gains."
