Home prices show gains for fourth straight month

Home prices posted promising results in August, showing year-over year gains for the fourth consecutive month, Clear Capital said in a recent report.

According to Clear Capital’s Home Data Index (HDI) Market Report (through August), home prices showed national gains of 1.9 percent quarter-over-quarter.

“Home price trends in August remained positive, posting the fourth consecutive yearly gain,” Dr. Alex Villacorta, Director of Research and Analytics at Clear Capital, said in a statement.

Regional results all positive

All four major U.S. regions posted quarterly gains in home prices in August.

The West led the way with a 3.8 percent quarterly increase, followed by the Midwest (2.0 percent), South (1.5 percent)and Northeast (0.5 percent).

In addition, all four regions show positive home price gains on a yearly basis. The West again led the way with as 7.7 percent year-over-year increase, followed by the South (2.5 percent), Northeast (1.3 percent) and Midwest (0.5 percent).

REO saturation declines

According to Clear Capital, Real Estate Owned (REO) saturation in the housing market dropped quarter-over-quarter to lows not seen since April 2008.

The national REO saturation rate dropped 6.4 percentage points quarter-over-quarter to 20.5 percent. REO saturation in April 2008 was at 16.3 percent.

“This month, three notable trends shifted: Growth in the fair market segment outpaced the REO segment over the last rolling quarter; through the first half of 2012, REO saturation was on the rise while August saw a drop to the lowest levels since 2008; and non-investor home buyers made up a larger chunk of the sales mix,” Villacorta said.

Villacorta continued: “The spark from the investor community has ignited activity in the owner-occupied sector of the market. In other words, historical market forces are at play.”

Posted in: Home Equity, Mortgage, Refinance

Home Equity News: This article was published on 9-12-2012 at 9:03 am.

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