Springfield home prices rise in February

Springfield home prices, including distressed sales, rose by 2.1 percent in February compared to the same month of the prior year.

Excluding distressed sales - which include short sales and real estate owned transactions - home prices in the city decreased 1 percent year-to-year, according data released this week from Santa Ana, Calif.-based real estate data tracking firm CoreLogic (NYSE: CLGX).

Home prices nationwide, including distressed sales, rose 10.2 percent in February compared to the same month in 2012, a change representing the largest year-to-year increase since March 2006 and the 12th consecutive monthly increase, according to the report.

"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," CoreLogic President and CEO Anand Nallathambi said in a news release. "Continued home price appreciation will provide fuel needed to drive further recovery in the home purchase market."