Massachusetts ranked 10th in February among states with the highest home price depreciation, according to the February Home Price Index (HPI) report from national housing industry tracking firm CoreLogic.
Home prices in Massachusetts dropped 3.6 percent year-over-year in February when distressed sales – short sales and REO transactions – were included, worse than the national price decline of 2 percent.
The top five states with price declines were Delaware (-11.2 percent), Connecticut (-7.9 percent), Rhode Island (-7.8 percent), Illinois (-7.1 percent) and Georgia (-6.6 percent).
When distressed sales were excluded, however, the results were different: Massachusetts’ prices were nearly flat in February, declining a scant 0.3 percent, better than the national average of 0.8 percent.
The top five for price depreciation, excluding distressed sales, were Delaware (-8.7 percent), Connecticut (-4.9 percent), Nevada (-4.6 percent), Vermont (-4.0 percent) and Minnesota (-3.3 percent).
Including distressed sales, the five states with the highest year-over-year price appreciation in February were: West Virginia (+8.6 percent), Michigan (+5.8 percent), Florida (+4.7 percent), Arizona (+4.5 percent) and South Dakota (+4.1 percent).
Excluding distressed sales, the five states with the highest appreciation were: South Dakota (+5.9 percent), West Virginia (+5.6 percent), Maine (+4.5 percent), Utah (+3.7 percent) and Montana (+3.6 percent).
"House prices, based on data through February, continue to decline, but at a decreasing rate. The deceleration in the pace of decline is a first step toward ultimately growing again," said Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic. "Excluding distressed sales, we already see modest price appreciation month over month in January and February."
"The continued strength of sales activity and tightening inventories in many markets are early and hopeful signs that prices will continue to stabilize and improve in the coming months," said Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic. "In fact, non-distressed home sale prices, which represent two-thirds of all sales, have appreciated by just over 1 percent since the beginning of the year."
