Phoenix home prices surge higher in past year to lead nation

Phoenix Business Journal by Kristena Hansen, Reporter

Date: Tuesday, August 7, 2012, 10:50am MST

Home-values in both the metro Phoenix and Arizona markets eclipsed the rest of the nation once again in June -- and by a long shot.

The latest housing report released Tuesday by CoreLogic shows Phoenix-area home values, including distressed sales, surged nearly 17 percent year-over-year in June -- the fastest rate of any metropolitan area nationwide. Trailing far behind in second place was the Houston metro area’s 4.5 percent increase, followed by the 3.3 percent rise seen in the Washington D.C. market.

Home values across Arizona, including distressed sales, also posted the biggest year-over-year leap of any state in June at 13.8 percent, the report said. Idaho came in second with its 10.4 percent jump from a year ago, which was closely followed by South Dakota’s 10.1 percent hike.

Nationwide, home prices in June rose an average 2.5 percent year-over-year and were up 1.3 percent from May.

Only nine states saw declines for the month with Alabama posting the biggest drop at 4.8 percent, the report said.

CoreLogic economists said in the report that the widespread price appreciations are a response to the nation’s notable reductions in both visible and shadow inventories, meaning the number of homes currently listed and not yet listed on the market.

“At the halfway point, 2012 is increasingly looking like the year that the residential housing market may have turned the corner,” Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic, said in the report. “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.”

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