US Home Prices Are Up; Here's A Snapshot Of Median Regional Prices

U.S. single-family home prices are edging up as foreclosures ease, mortgage rates fall and potential home buyers are more willing to dive back into the market.

Photo: Zillow/Angelo Young Existing home sales were down 5.6 percent in the American western region in January compared to the same month last year.

This helped raise prices by over 7 percent nationwide last year, according to the latest figures from Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller. Prices are still down to roughly 2003 levels, and a lot of homeowners are still living in places that cost them more to buy than they are currently worth.

Photo: Zillow/Angelo Young Existing single family home prices were up in the Midwest by 8.6 percent in January compared to the same month last year.

Big home improvement retailers The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) and Lowe's Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) both beat Wall Street profit forecasts in their latest quarterly earnings reports, suggesting that recent home buyers have been busy getting their new pads in order.

Photo: Zillow/Angelo Young Sales of existing homes in the Midwest were up 17.2 percent year-over-year in January.

According to the National Association of Realtors, January’s median home prices are up across the nation by 12.3 percent, to $173,600. Meanwhile, the government reported on Tuesday that sales of new homes are up to levels unseen since July 2008, prior to the subprime mortgage meltdown. New home sales rose 15.6 percent in January.

Photo: Zillow/Angelo Young U.S. southern regional home prices were up 13.4 percent year-over-year in January. The country’s Western region, which has been battered hard by the repercussions of the 2008 subprime mortgage meltdown, is seeing a nearly 27 percent rise in year-over-year median home prices, to $239,800.

Photo: Zillow/Angelo Young Existing home sales grew 14 percent year-over-year in January

The Northeast saw the smallest growth, of 2.4 percent, to $230,500. Purchasing is up, too. Americans bought 9.1 percent more homes in January than in the same period last year. All regions saw increases in buys except the West, where the number of home purchases shrank by 5.7 percent.

Photo: Zillow/Angelo Young Existing home sales in the U.S. Northeast rose 2.4 percent year-over-year in January.

The market is far from healed, and listings consistently show homes selling at lower prices than what they were bought for. Here’s a snapshot of what the median home price per region is.

Photo: Zillow/Angelo Young Existing home sales were up 12.1 percent in the U.S. Northeast in January compared to the same month last year.