US home prices surge 6.3 per cent October

US home prices surged 6.3 per cent in October from a year earlier, in what came as the biggest year-over-year gain since 2006, according to research firm CoreLogic.

Prices were down 0.2 per cent in October from September, but a drop of the kind was expected at the end of the home-selling season, the firm said yesterday.

October marked the eighth month in a row to see increasing year-over-year price trend a further sign of growing strength in the housing market. CoreLogic reported Monday that foreclosures were down 17 per cent in October as against a year earlier.

According to Mark Fleming, CoreLogic's chief economist, the housing recovery that started earlier in 2012 continued to gain momentum, which was geographically broad-based with almost all markets experiencing a degree of appreciation.

Home prices were up 21.3 per cent in Arizona, the most in any state, while California saw an increase of 9 per cent. Prices were up from October 2011 in all but five states -- Alabama, Delaware, Illinois, New Jersey and Rhode Island.

The Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale area in Arizona saw prices increase the most year-over-year for any metro area, at 24.5 per cent while the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario metro area came second at 7.3 per cent. Los Angeles area came in fourth at 6.4 per cent.