Home Prices Rise Again in February: Black Knight

Home prices continue to make steady increases but are still off from their 2006 peak, according to Black Knight Financial Services.

Black Knight's Home Price Index reported a value of $254,000 in February, an increase of 0.7% from the previous month and 5.3% from a year ago. The figure is up 27.5% from the market's bottom recorded during the financial crisis, but still 5% below the peak recorded in June 2006.

The Pacific Northwest continued to be dominant over the rest of the country. Washington had the highest increase in home prices at 1.8%, while Oregon tied California for third at 1.3%.

Colorado also displayed impressive growth at 1.7% for the month, while Hawaii, Tennessee, Idaho and Utah all saw growth above 1%. Connecticut featured the most pronounced price compression, with a 0.4% decline for its home price index. Rhode Island and New Jersey were the only two other states to post declines, both at 0.2%.

The list of biggest movers by metropolitan area featured many likely suspects: San Jose, Calif., led the country with 2.4% HPI growth. Seattle, San Francisco and Denver also posted 2% growth or greater.

Metro areas across the Northeast dominated the list of cities with the biggest HPI declines. New Jersey had four cities on the list, while Massachusetts had three and Connecticut two. Atlantic City, N.J., reported the biggest drop in home prices, by 1%.