Share• Core Logic data showed that nationally U.S. home prices increased for a third month in a row, by 0.7 percent in June 2011 compared to May 2011. Home prices, including distressed sales, declined by 6.8 percent in June 2011 compared to June 2010. Excluding distressed sales, year-over-year prices declined by 1.1 percent in June 2011 compared to June 2010. Distressed sales include short sales and real estate owned (REO) transactions.
• Because real estate is local, it makes sense to drill down further. A snapshot of local areas shows that overall prices improved in the New York, NY and Washington, DC areas in the last year .
• However, looking at the distressed excluded index, performance was much better. In the distressed excluded data, 5 of 10 areas showed price growth in the last year—which is even more impressive when one considers that this period of time includes the expiration of the first-time home buyer tax credit and the immediate, temporary dampening of demand.
• In those five areas that showed declines in prices among non-distressed homes, the declines are more muted when distressed properties are excluded from the index.
