by Calculated Risk on 4/15/2013 11:27:00 AM

In addition to Case-Shiller, CoreLogic, FHFA and LPS, I'm also watching the FNC, Zillow and several other house price indexes.

From FNC: FNC Index: February Home Prices at 28-month High

The latest FNC Residential Price Index® (RPI) indicates that U.S. property values rose again in February, continuing a trend that began in the spring of 2012 which has become widely recognized as the beginning of the housing market’s recovery. In February, the FNC RPI recorded a 28-month high after rising for 12 straight months. For the 12 months through February, the index rose 6.1%−its fastest acceleration since July 2006.

... Despite rising prices, the supply remains limited as foreclosure activities decline. Meanwhile, the supply from potential trade-up buyers remains constrained by current prices, which are still too low to allow many existing homeowners to capture equity appreciation. Inevitably, the demand by potential trade-up buyers remains constrained. The median sales-to-list price ratio in February was 95.0, up from 93.8 in January and 90.3 a year ago. Foreclosure sales were down to 20.2% from 26.5% a year ago.

Based on recorded sales of non-distressed properties (existing and new homes) in the 100 largest metropolitan areas, the FNC 100-MSA composite index shows that February home prices rose 0.2% from the previous month and were up 6.1% year-over-year from the same period in 2012. The two narrower composite indices also show a small month-over-month price increase but greater year-over-year change at 7.1% and 7.9% respectively for the nation’s top-30 and top-10 housing markets.

The year-over-year change continued to increase in February, with the 100-MSA composite up 6.1% compared to February 2012. The FNC index turned positive on a year-over-year basis in July, 2012.

Click on graph for larger image.

This graph shows the year-over-year change for the FNC Composite 10, 20, 30 and 100 indexes. Note: The FNC indexes are hedonic price indexes using a blend of sold homes and real-time appraisals.

Even with the recent increase, the FNC composite 100 index is still off 29.1% from the peak.