Home prices nationwide, including distressed sales, increased on a year-over-year basis by 1.1 percent in April, according to a home price index report from housing industry tracking firm CoreLogic.

This was the second consecutive year-over-year increase this year, and the first time two consecutive increases have occurred since June 2010, according to the tracking company.

On a month-over-month basis, home prices, including distressed sales, increased by 2.2 percent in April 2012. This marks the second consecutive month-over-month increase this year.

Excluding distressed sales, prices increased 2.6 percent in April compared to March of this year, the third month-over-month increase in a row. The CoreLogic Home Price Index (HPI) also shows that year-over-year prices, excluding distressed sales, rose by 1.9 percent in April compared to the same time last year. Distressed sales include short sales and real estate owned transactions.

"We see the consistent month-over-month increases within our HPI and Pending HPI as one sign that the housing market is stabilizing," said Anand Nallathambi, president and chief executive officer of CoreLogic. "Home prices are responding to a restricted supply that will likely exist for some time to come-an optimistic sign for the future of our industry."

"Excluding distressed sales, home prices in March and April are improving at a rate not seen since late 2006 and appreciating at a faster rate than during the tax-credit boomlet in 2010," said Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic. "Nationally, the supply of homes in current inventory is down to 6.5 months, a level not seen in more than five years, in part driven by the ‘locked in’ position of so many homeowners in negative equity."