Just days after a year-end report from the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors (MAAR) that showed double-digit increases in home sales and prices in the Twin Cities, a monthly report from CoreLogic shows strong, but slightly lower price gains than the local report.

CoreLogic's November Home Price Index for the Twin Cities metro was up 7.8 percent compared with the previous year,slightly ahead of the national average. On Friday, MAAR said that the median price of all sales in the Twin Cities metro last year had increased 11.9 percent, the biggest annual increase in several years.

Though their methodogy is different, both reports reinforce the belief that the housing market is in the midst of what's expected to be a long-term recovery, The CoreLogic index tracks repeat sales of the same of the house, including foreclosure sales, thereby eliminating some of the statistical noise that's associated with the MAAR report, which tracks all homes that are sold by a licensed real estate agent through the Regional Multiple Listing Service.

As of late, MAAR's median sale price has been heavily influenced by a shift from inexpensive starter houses towards more expensive move-up houses, causing an upwards statistical increase in the median price. CoreLogic said that nationally,home prices were up on average 7.4 percent with the biggest gains happening in Arizona (up 21 percent), Nevada (14 percent) and Idaho (14 percent). Delaware, Illinois and Connecticut all showed price declines.

Nationally, that was the biggest - and ninth consecutive - year-over-year increase in prices since May 2006.