CoreLogic Reports Prices Up, but Pace Might Slow in 2nd Half of 2012

When including distressed sales, ""CoreLogic"":http://www.corelogic.com/ reported a 2.5 percent yearly increase in home prices in June, and a 1.3 percent increase month-over-month from May.

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The rise in home prices is the fourth consecutive increase on a yearly and monthly basis, and CoreLogic's Pending HPI is forecasting at least a 0.4 percent monthly increase in July and a 2 percent year-over-year gain.

When excluding distressed sales, which are short sales and REO transactions, home prices rose even higher on a yearly and monthly basis at 3.2 percent and 2 percent, respectively.

In response to CoreLogic's report, ""Capital Economics"":http://www.capitaleconomics.com/ said that while the gain in June is strong, ""the latest rise was marginally weaker than we would expect in a typical June, meaning that seasonally-adjusted house prices actually eased a touch.""

In an analysis from Capital Economics, the June prices were adjusted to account for predicable seasonal variations. Taking the monthly increase and applying its own season-adjustment, Capital Economics reported prices actually decreased 0.1 percent month-over-month in June.

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Paul Diggle, economist for Capital Economics and author of the report, wrote that in response to the slowdown in the economy, they expect price growth to slow in the second half of the year, and this now appears to be happening.

Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic, also commented on expectations for the second half of 2012, stating, ""While first-half gains have given way to second-half declines over the past three years, we see encouraging signs that modest price gains are supportable across the country in the second-half of 2012.""

Despite any anticipation for a possible slowing down in price increases, Capital Economics said the bigger picture remains an encouraging one for home prices.

Top Five States
(excluding distressed sales)
1. Arizona (+13.8 percent)
2. Idaho (10.4 percent)
3. South Dakota (+10.1 percent)
4. Utah (+8.3 percent)
5. Wyoming (+7.7 percent)

Top Five States
(including distressed sales)
1. South Dakota (+10.2 percent)
2. Utah (+9.1 percent)
3. Montana (+8.7 percent)
4. Arizona (+8.7 percent)
5. Wyoming (+6.9 percent)