Atlanta joins nationwide trend of rising home prices

Home prices, including distressed sales, increased by 6.0 percent year-over-year in June 2015 in the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell area, according CoreLogic’s June 2015 Home Price Index (HPI). Excluding distressed sales, year-over-year prices increased by 5.2 percent. This is lower than the national average of a 6.5 percent increase with distressed sales, and 6.4 percent without.

CoreLogic also predicted for the HPI Forecast a projected 0.6 percent increase month over month nationally going into July 2015, including distressed sales. Additionally, CoreLogic predicted that U.S. home prices will continue to rise, at a slower rate — a 4.5 percent year-over-year increase from June 2015 to June 2016, including distressed sales.

Anand Nallathambi, the president and CEO of CoreLogic, discussed the potential of continuous price increases: “The current cycle of home price appreciation is closing in on its fourth year with no apparent end in sight. Pent-up buying demand and affordability, together with higher consumer confidence buoyed by a more robust labor market, are a potent mix fueling a 6.5 percent jump in home prices through June with more increases likely to come.”

Fifteen states and the District of Columbia reached new price peaks since the HPI began in January 1976. Twenty additional states reached within 10 percent of their peak price. The states that reached a new peak were Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Hawaii, Iowa, Kentucky, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and Wyoming.

Only four states saw home price depreciation, including distressed sales. These states were Massachusetts (-5 percent), Connecticut (-0.6 percent), Louisiana (-0.4 percent) and Mississippi (-0.3 percent). When excluding distressed sales, only two states saw a drop: Massachusetts (-1.5 percent) and Louisiana (-0.1 percent).