The U.S. real estate recovery has been slow albeit steady. This year's winter dampened what could be a good time for home investment. However, experts believe that the spring market will pick up steam.
In anticipation of a better market, here is a list of areas where home prices went up most and declined in the first quarter of 2014.
In a recent report, the National Association of Realtors revealed that home prices increased in 89 percent of the metropolitan areas of the country on a year-over-year basis.
"The general trend is that markets that are seeing consistent strong price rise - South Bend tends to be a little volatile - there you have a solid local job-creating environment combined with a shortage of inventory that is really beginning to push up prices," said Lawrence Yun, chief economist at NAR, in the report.
Yun also added that while the price rise is a good news for home owners, it is bad for buyers. Affordability has greatly been affected due to the price spikes.
Prices went up more than 20 percent in seven of the major metro areas of the United States. According to the latest data from the CoreLogic Case-Shiller home price index, six California cities and Las Vegas showed the highest spike in prices:
1. Las Vegas (25.6%)
2. Riverside (23.8%)
3. Oakland (23.3%)
4. Sacramento (23.0%)
5. Los Angeles (20.3%)
6. San Jose (20.1%)
7. San Francisco (20.0%)
Considering the rising prices, Market Watch teamed up with RealtyTrac to compile a list of areas, where home prices have fallen.
Below is the list of seven areas where home prices have dipped:
1. Oklahoma City, Okla. - Home prices dropped 1 percent in the first quarter after declining 5 percent in the last quarter of 2013.
2. Jacksonville, Fla. - Home prices in this area too slipped 1 percent but after rising 15 percent in the final two quarters of 2013.
3. Tulsa, Okla. - Home prices in the area fell 2 percent in the first quarter after falling 3 percent in the final two quarters of 2014.
4. Greensboro-High Point, N.C. - Home prices dipped 8 percent in the first quarter after spiking 2 percent in the last quarter of 2013.
5. Lancaster, Pa. - Home prices in this area went down 2 percent this quarter after rising 2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2014.
While prices increase, mortgage rates have hit record lows. More recently, it was reported that the number of new mortgage and refinancing applications went up on the low interest rates.
NAR President Steve Brown has some good news.
"Both home prices and mortgage interest rates are higher than a year ago, but the good news is that median income is enough to purchase a home in most areas. There are good potential buying opportunities in areas where there has been consistent local job creation, and where prices have not risen significantly, or where they may be experiencing temporary declines," he added in the NAR report.
