Springfield home prices, including distressed sales, increased 3.9 percent in March compared to the same month last year, according to Irvine, Calif.-based real estate tracker CoreLogic Inc. (NYSE: CLGX).
The movement was positive for local home sellers, but pales in comparison to the rest of the country. Nationally, home prices jumped by 11.1 percent in March compared to March 2013, according to the March CoreLogic Home Price Index report.
Compared to February, Springfield home prices increased by 0.7 percent, including distressed sales. Without distressed sales factored in, home prices in Springfield climbed 5.6 percent year-to-year and 2.5 percent from the previous month.
March’s 11 percent home-price bump represents 25 months of consecutive year-over-year increases nationally, according to the report. From February, home prices nationwide, including distressed sales, increased 1.4 percent. Excluding distressed sales, national home prices were up 9.5 percent compared to March 2013 and 0.9 percent month-to-month.
At the state level, including distressed sales, Arkansas was the only state to post depreciation in March compared to the same month last year, dropping 0.3 percent. Colorado, the District of Columbia, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas and Wyoming all set new home price peaks during the month.
On the transaction volume side, CoreLogic Chief Economist Mark Fleming said March was disappointing.
“March data on new and existing home sales was weaker than expected and is a cause for concern as we enter the spring buying season,” Fleming said in a news release. “Interest rate-disenfranchised potential sellers are adding to the existing shadow inventory, while buyers who can't find what they want to buy are on the sidelines creating a new kind of ‘shadow demand.’ This supply and demand imbalance continues to drive home prices higher, even though transaction volumes are lower than expected.”
California had the highest increase in year-to-year home sale prices in March at 17.2 percent.[[In-content Ad]]
