Queen City home prices increase

Springfield home prices rose on both a monthly and yearly basis in January, according to real estate market tracker CoreLogic.

Including distressed sales - which comprise short sales and real estate owned transactions - Queen City prices increased 0.8 percent compared to January 2014. From December, prices ticked up 0.3 percent, according to a news release.

Prices excluding distressed sales rose 2.4 percent year to year and 0.6 percent month to month.

Missouri home prices, including distressed sales, increased 5.7 percent compared to January 2014, while the yearly increase for prices excluding distressed sales was 3.7 percent, according to the release.

The U.S. home price average, including distressed sales, moved up 5.7 percent in January compared to the same month a year earlier, representing the 35th consecutive month of year-to-year increases. Excluding distressed sales, the yearly increase was 5.6 percent.

CoreLogic President and CEO Anand Nallathambi predicts a continued increase in home prices into 2016.

"A dearth of supply in many parts of the country is a big factor driving up prices,” he said in the release. “Many homeowners have taken advantage of low rates to refinance their homes, and until we see sustained increases in income levels and employment, they could be hunkered down - so supplies may remain tight.”