U.S. home prices grew 0.2 percent in June year-over-year: report

U.S. home prices increased on an annual basis in June for the first time since 2007, according to Zillow.com, which released its second quarter real estate market report today. Home prices rose 0.2 percent year-over-year in June to reach a median of $149,300. That also marks a 2.1 percent increase over the first quarter, and a monthly increase of 0.7 percent.

Zillow.com’s report said home values reached their bottom in February, and have since appreciated for four consecutive months at “very robust monthly growth rates,” that Stan Humphries, the firm’s chief economist, does not expect the market to sustain. The price growth between the first and second quarters of this year was the largest since the fourth quarter of 2005. The report said 69 of the 157 markets Zillow.com tracks have already bottomed and will see appreciation over the next year.

The report also found national rents to have increased 5.4 percent year-over-year, led by Philadelphia, Chicago and Baltimore, which all posted gains of at least 11 percent. Meanwhile, 5.8 out of every 10,000 homes went into foreclosure in June, the slowest rate since December 2007. — Adam Fusfeld