Home Prices Tumbled Less in 2011

By Mike Colpitts

Home prices tumbled an average of 4.3% on a year-over-year basis through last November, according to real estate analytics firm CoreLogic. The company’s Home Price Index, released Monday, confirmed what other real estate research companies reported – that home prices fell less in 2011 than 2010.

The Santa Ana, California based firm said prices fell 1.4% in October, which marked the fourth straight month home values dropped. Average house prices experienced a short rise in values as a result of record low mortgage rates and homes in the foreclosure process being held back from the market by lenders.

Moratoriums in effect in more than two dozen states quickly spread to the entire nation as the country’s largest five banks reviewed their foreclosure procedures pending investigations by all 50 state attorney generals. The moratoriums have held-up millions of foreclosures from proceeding as lenders work with attorney generals to hammer out an agreement over the robo signing scandal.

Up to as many as 4.5-million foreclosures are being reviewed by government regulators to determine the extent of illegal foreclosures made by banks and mortgage servicing companies.

Since the summer increase in average values in the majority of the U.S., more foreclosed homes have been released for sale to the marketplace by banks. Of the 100 statistical areas tracked by CoreLogic, 77 showed year over year home value declines.

“Distressed sales continue to put downward pressure on prices and is a factor that must be addressed in 2012 for a housing recovery to become a reality,” said CoreLogic chief economist Mark Fleming. “With one month of data left to report, it appears that the healthy, non-distressed market will be very modestly down in 2011.”

Nevada had the highest deflation for any state, down 11.2%, followed by Illinois (- 9.7%); Minnesota (- 7.8%); Georgia (- 7.7%) and Ohio (- 7.2%).

However, when it comes to cities surveyed in the firm’s 100 top markets, the Chicagoland area suffered the highest deflation, followed byAtlanta, and Los Angeles, which are now the two largest metro areas in the nation based on population.

States with the highest home price appreciation for the 12 month period through November include Vermont, which saw a 4.3% rise in values, followed by South Carolina (2.8%); the District of Columbia (2.1%); Nebraska (1.9%); and New York (1.7%).