Charlotte-area home prices up 4.5%

The sales price of existing homes in the Charlotte area, including distressed sales, rose 4.5 percent in May from a year earlier, according to CoreLogic’s Home Price Index.  Sales prices in the Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia metro increased 0.8 percent in May from April.

Appreciation grew at a quicker pace nationally — 5.9 percent in May from a year earlier and 1.3 percent from April.

“Price appreciation continues to be fairly broad-based across the U.S.,” said CoreLogic Chief Executive Anand Nallathambi, who added that the Pacific Northwest is leading the way in home-price growth. “The recent turbulence in the financial markets should lead to modestly lower mortgage rates, which will provide even more support to the steadily improving real estate recovery.”

The states with the highest annual home-price appreciation in April were Oregon, at 11 percent; Washington, at 10.1 percent; and Colorado, at 9.4 percent.

Prices fell 0.9 percent in Connecticut, 0.2 percent in New Jersey, and 0.1 percent in Pennsylvania. Delaware had the lowest appreciation rate, at 0.2 percent, followed by Maryland, at 1 percent.

North Carolina saw a 4 percent increase in the home price index in the 12 months ending in May.

CoreLogic forecasts that home prices will increase 5.3 percent between May 2016 and May 2017.

Using more than 30 years of transaction data, CoreLogic’s Home Price Index tracks changes in sales prices for the same homes over time. The company, based in California, provides property information, analytics and data services.