Inman

Houston home values enjoyed a strong February, report says

Black Knight Financial Services recently released its February 2016 residential real estate transactions report, the Home Price Index (HPI). The report found that national home prices in February were up 5.3 percent on an annual basis and increased 0.7 since January.

Other notable points of the report include:

  • The U.S. HPI was reported at $254,000 — up 27.5 percent from the market’s bottom but 5 percent off the June 2006 peak of $267,000
  • Home prices in New York, Tennessee and Texas all hit new peaks in February
  • San Jose led metro areas with 2.4 percent price growth from January, followed by Seattle at 2.1 percent
  • Connecticut, Rhode Island and New Jersey were the only states to see negative price movement in February, accounting for seven of the ten worst performing metro areas
  • Of the nation’s 40 largest metros, Austin, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Kansas City, Nashville, Portland, San Antonio, San Francisco and San Jose all hit new peaks

The Pacific Coast and Colorado stacked the list of biggest metro movers, with every metro in the top 10 hailing from California, Colorado, Oregon or Washington.

The East Coast tells an opposite story: Every metro in the bottom ten came from Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey or Rhode Island.

Home values in Houston didn’t see quite the same jump as San Jose did in February, but they still rose a healthy 0.6 percent month-over-month. The market has also reached the same level as it did during its peak in 2006, with an HPI of $223,000.

The rest of Texas also saw healthy increases month-over-month in February, jumping 0.8 percent to reach an HPI of $218,000. That number also represents almost a 7 percent increase year-over-year and a 28 percent increase since 2012.