Non-distressed property market showing positive signs

Despite the continued overall decline, home prices excluding distressed properties are showing signs of stability, according to CoreLogic’s February Home Price Index (HPI).

“When you remove distressed properties from the equation, we’re seeing a significantly reduced pace of depreciation and greater stability in many markets,” said Mark Fleming, chief economist for Santa Ana, California-based CoreLogic. “Price declines are increasingly isolated to the distressed segment of the market, mostly in the form of REO sales, as the stock of foreclosures is slowly cleared.”

Highlights as of February 2011

* Including distressed sales, the five states with the highest appreciation were: West Virginia (+5.4 percent), New York (+4.7 percent), North Dakota (+4.1 percent), Maine (+3.6 percent) and Alaska (+1.2 percent).

* Including distressed sales, the five states with the greatest depreciation were: Idaho (-14.6 percent), Arizona (-12.0 percent), Florida (-11.2 percent), Michigan (-11.1 percent) and Illinois (-11.1 percent).

* Excluding distressed sales, the five states with the highest appreciation were: West Virginia (+8.2 percent), New York (+5.7 percent), South Carolina (+5.4 percent), Hawaii (+5.0 percent), and District of Columbia (+4.5 percent).

* Excluding distressed sales, the five states with the greatest depreciation were: Idaho (-9.3 percent), Montana (-8.6 percent), Maine (-6.2 percent), Arizona (-5.4 percent) and Rhode Island (-5.4 percent).

* Including distressed transactions, the peak-to-current change in the national HPI (from April 2006 to February 2011) was -34.5 percent. Excluding distressed transactions, the peak-to-current change in the HPI for the same period was -21.7 percent.

* Of the top 100 Core Based Statistical Areas (CBSAs) measured by population, 86 are showing year-over-year declines in February, an improvement over January when 88 of the top CBSAs were showing year-over-year declines.