Home prices rose faster in February in Colorado than in any other state, according a report Tuesday from CoreLogic, a California firm that tracks housing trends.
Colorado home prices, including distressed sales, rose by 9.8 percent between February 2014 and February 2015, according to the CoreLogic HomePrice Index.
South Carolina home values had the second-biggest jump, at 9.3 percent, and Michigan was third, at 8.5 percent. At the other extreme, home prices declined 0.9 percent in Connecticut and rose only 0.1 percent in Louisiana.
“This is the hottest home-price appreciation prior to the spring-selling season in nine years,” Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic, said.
If interest rates remain low and consumer confidence strong, home prices nationally are on track to rise an additional 5.1 percent in the coming year, CoreLogic forecasts.
A strong driver behind the Colorado gains was appreciation in Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, where home prices have jumped 11.1 percent the past year, including distressed sales, according to CoreLogic.
Denver-area home prices are up 1.8 percent between January and February, which would translate into a mind-bending 21.6 percent rate if annualized.
A separate report from REColorado shows that the median price of a home sold in metro Denver in March crossed $300,000 for the first time, up from $292,000 in February and $265,000 a year earlier.
The average price of a home sold in metro Denver was $354,580 in March, up from $344,796 in February and $310,992 in March 2014.
CoreLogic notes that a dwindling supply of affordable homes has pushed up appreciation at the low end of the market faster than the high end.
Nationally, low-end home prices jumped 9.3 percent in February 2014 from February 2013, but only 4.8 percent for high-end homes.
The gap between the rate of increase in the two ranges is nearly three times the historical average.
Colorado is one of only six states where home prices pushed to new highs last month. The others are Texas, up 8.5 percent the past year; Wyoming, up 8.4 percent; New York, up 8.2 percent; North Dakota, up 7.7 percent; and Oklahoma, up 5.2 percent.
Aside from New York, what the record-setting states share in common are economies that have benefited from increased oil and gas production.
Home prices in most states continue to linger below the peaks hit during the housing boom a decade ago, with Nevada still off its former highs by 35.4 percent.
Aldo Svaldi: 303-954-1410, asvaldi@denverpost.com or twitter.com/aldosvald