September was a solid month for home price growth in the Atlanta area, with prices rising in the latest index from CoreLogic.

Home prices in the Atlanta area rose 14.29 percent year-over-year in September, according to the latest Home Price Index from CoreLogic.

That was excluding distressed sales, but even when foreclosures and short sales were factored in, prices in Atlanta still rose 16.7 percent from last year. Also, prices were up 14.4 percent year-over-year for all of Georgia.

National Home Prices Make Progress in September

Additionally, home prices posted positive numbers on a national basis as well in the Home Price Index:

• Including distressed sales, home prices were up 12 percent in September from last year; that’s the 19th straight month of yearly price gains.
• Excluding distressed sales, prices were still up 10.8 percent, and they increased 0.3 percent from August to September.
• Prices are still 17.4 percent below their April 2006 peak, but we can likely count on similarly strong gains in October – the CoreLogic Pending HPI is anticipating a 12.5 percent year-over-year increase for October’s index.

Mark Fleming, the chief economist for CoreLogic, said the latest index marks two notable facts for the housing market.

“September marks the unofficial five-year anniversary of the start of the housing crisis,” he said. “While there is still room for improvement, the HPI is at the highest level since May 2008.”

For more perspective on the index’s gains, see our graph below.