Home Prices Post Biggest Gain in Six Years

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By Shanthi Bharatwaj02/05/13 - 09:33 AM EST

Stock quotes in this article: XHB, IYR 

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NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Home prices rose 8.3% in December from a year earlier, the biggest gain since May 2006, according to CoreLogic.

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All but four states -- Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Illinois and Delaware -- posted increases.

Prices rose 0.4% in December from November, the 10th consecutive monthly advance.

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Excluding foreclosures and short sales, which sell at deep discounts to the market price, home prices were up 7.5% on a year-on-year basis and 0.9% month-on-month.

The states with the highest home-price appreciation in December were Arizona (20%), Nevada (15.3%), Idaho (14.6%), California (12.6%) and Hawaii (12.5%).

"We are heading into 2013 with home prices on the rebound," said Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic. "All signals point to a continued improvement in the fundamentals underpinning the U.S. housing market recovery."