CoreLogic said this morning that U.S. home prices soared 12.1 percent in April from a year earlier - the biggest gain since February 2006. Prices were up year-over-year during the month in 48 states, and rose 3.2 percent in April from March compared with the previous month-to-month gain of 1.9 percent.
Those gains were led by whopping increases in Nevada (up 25 percent), California (19 percent) and Arizona (17 percent), which skewed the national average. Price gains in much of Minnesota were far more modest, here's how things played out in the state's biggest major metro areas:
- In Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, home prices, including distressed sales, increased by 7.4 percent in April compared with April 2012. On a month-over-month basis, home prices, including distressed sales, increased by 1.5 percent in April 2013 compared to March 2013.
- In Duluth, home prices, including distressed sales, increased by 6.2 percent in April 2013 compared to April 2012. On a month-over-month basis, home prices, including distressed sales, increased by 1.8 percent in April 2013 compared to March 2013
- In Rochester, home prices, including distressed sales, increased by 5.9 percent in April 2013 compared to April 2012. On a month-over-month basis, home prices, including distressed sales, increased by 1.8 percent in April 2013 compared to March 2013.
- In St. Cloud, home prices, including distressed sales, increased by 6.2 percent in April 2013 compared to April 2012. On a month-over-month basis, home prices, including distressed sales, increased by 1.8 percent in April 2013 compared to March 2013
PS: Don't fret about the lower-than-average price gains in Minnesota. The double-digit increases that are happening in the most extreme cases are largely being driven by investors swooping in and snapping up heavily discounted properties. Those gains, experts worry, aren't sustainable.
