RealEstateEconomyWatch.com

Another measure of the strength of the housing recovery has found that April prices have pushed 14 major markets, including Omaha, Denver and Pittsburgh, over the peak prices they reached during the housing boom. Four, all in Texas, have reached new price levels twice as high as their previous peaks.

According to a new Rebound Report by Homes.com which is based on the site’s Local Market Index, a price performance summary on repeat sales of properties in the U.S. utilizing home pricing data from several sources. The April Local Market Index found that single-family properties gained in all of the top 100 markets, improving from previous reporting periods.

The 14 markets that have made more than a 100 percent rebound are an increase from nine that topped their peak values in March. With the exception of Denver and Pittsburgh, the markets that have exceeded their peak values are in the South, Southwest or Midwest. All of the markets that have doubled their peak values are in Texas. Most of them experiences price increases during the boom lower than the national median.

“The latest round of report findings supports a growing confidence in the housing market. With home prices posting the strongest gains in seven years, the Rebound Report is another indicator of a positive turn. In one month alone, we have seen five new markets reach recovery,” said Brock MacLean, executive vice president of Homes.com. “Adding to that momentum, all top 100 markets recorded gains for the first time, indicating the recovery continues to build across the country.”

The Homes.com Local Market Index also found:

• Monthly increases in all of the top 100 markets, a sizable improvement from the 75 out of 100 that gained in February;.
• Honolulu, Hawaii remains the top gaining market on a year-over-year basis.
• California markets [Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, Calif.; San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, Calif.; and San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, Calif.] increased 18.85, 18.47, and 15.46 index points respectively.
• Six of the top 10 monthly gaining markets are in the West, two are from the South, and the Northeast and Midwest each had one.

The Local Market Index is calculated from sales data on the same homes over time, allowing a side-by-side comparison of the same property. This more accurately tracks the monthly growth and decline in home prices over a longer period of time. Each sales pair observed is grouped with all other sales pairs found within the area to create a highly localized, neighborhood-level index.

The Homes.com Rebound Report tracks how far each market has recovered from its peak-to-trough decline in index value attributable to the Great Recession, a recently marked global economic decline that correlated with the bursting of the U.S. housing bubble. The report provides helps track how the housing recovery is unfolding across the country.