Home Prices Post Slight Gain for July

Home prices rose 0.8 percent during the month of July, marking the fourth consecutive month of increase, according to CoreLogic’s July home price index, released recently.

Despite the monthly increase, prices declined 5.2 percent year-over-year. The decline is smaller when considering only non-distressed sales – 0.6 percent year-over-year.

“While July’s numbers remained relatively positive, particularly for non-distressed sales which have been stable, seasonal influences are expected to fade in late summer,” according to Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic.

“At that point the month-over-month growth will most likely turn negative. The slowdown in economic growth and increased uncertainty caused by the recent stock market volatility will continue to exert downward pressure on prices,” Flemming added.

National home prices are 30.5 percent below their peak in April 2006.