CoreLogic: Home prices continue to climb

Home prices continued to surge in July, up 12.4% vs. a year ago and 1.8% from June, market researcher CoreLogic says.

Looking ahead, price growth is expected to slow as seasonal demand wanes and higher interest rates have a "marginal" impact on demand, says Mark Fleming, CoreLogic chief economist.

Markets hit during the downturn continue to lead the price recovery.

Year over year, Nevada prices were up 27%, followed by California at 23.2%, Arizona at 17%, Wyoming, 16.4%, and Oregon 15%, CoreLogic's data shows.

Home prices have been up year over year for 17 months. CoreLogic predicts they'll be up 0.4% in August from July.

Meanwhile, the foreclosure crisis continues to abate.

Separately today, mortgage tracker Lender Processing Services reports that foreclosure starts for the 12 months ended in July were at their lowest level since 2007.

CoreLogic is just one company that tracks home price trends. Last week, S&P's Case-Shiller 20-city home price index showed June prices up 12.1% over 12 months.

Article courtesy of USA Today