U.S. Home Prices Near Their 2006 Peak: Black Knight

U.S. home prices gained 1.1% in May and are up 5.4% year over year, according to the latest Black Knight home price index, released Monday.

At $263,000, the index is up 31.7% from the market’s bottom — $199,000 in January 2012 — and is now just 1.8% off its June 2006 peak of $267,000.

The Black Knight index uses repeat sales data from the nation’s biggest public records dataset and its loan-level mortgage performance data to capture home price data from both states that disclose sale prices and those that don’t. Black Knight’s monthly reports comprise five price levels and real-estate-owned discount rates for each of more than 18,000 U.S. ZIP codes.

All states and metropolitan areas experienced positive growth in May, Black Knight reported.

Idaho led movement among the states with 1.9% growth, followed by North Dakota at 1.8%.

Mountain states dominated May’s top-performing metro areas, accounting for eight of the top 10. Cheyenne, Wyoming, and Fort Collins, Colorado, led at 2.1% each.

Among the 20 largest states tracked by Black Knight, home prices in six of these hit new peaks in May, and among the nation’s 40 largest metro areas, 15 reached new highs.

In terms of year-over-year growth, Portland, Oregon led the 40 largest metro areas at 13.2%, followed by Seattle, 11.3%, and Denver, 11.2%.

Only St. Louis among the 40 metro areas registered a year-over-year decline in home prices, down 4.3%. And only Missouri among the biggest states had a similar decline, down 1.1%.

Following are index changes in the 10 largest states and 10 biggest metro area, according to Black Knight:

10 Largest States

1. California

Current index value: $473,000

Month-over-month change: 0.6%

Year-over-year change: 6.5%

2. Texas

Current index value: $225,000

Month-over-month change: 1.2%

Year-over-year change: 6.5%

3. Florida

Current index value: $228,000

Month-over-month change: 0.9%

Year-over-year change: 7.4%

4. New York

Current index value: $356,000

Month-over-month change: 1.1%

Year-over-year change: 4.3%

5. Illinois

Current index value: $224,000

Month-over-month change: 1.3%

Year-over-year change: 3.6%

6. Pennsylvania

Current index value: $219,000

Month-over-month change: 1.1%

Year-over-year change: 2.2%

7. Ohio

Current index value: $152,000

Month-over-month change: 1.4%

Year-over-year change: 3.6%

8. Georgia

Current index value: $193,000

Month-over-month change: 0.9%

Year-over-year change: 5.2%

9. North Carolina

Current index value: $200,000

Month-over-month change: 1.3%