Good news for home buyers: According to the latest report from real estate data provider CoreLogic, home prices rose 10.2 percent in February on a year-on-year basis, the biggest annual increase since March 2006.

Nationwide, home prices have been rising rapidly, especially in Nevada (19.3 percent), Arizona (18.6 percent), California (15.3 percent), Hawaii (14.6 percent) and Idaho (13.5 percent). But they are still down more than 26 percent from April 2006, when they were at their peak, CoreLogic reported.

Phoenix; Los Angeles; Riverside, Calif.; Atlanta and New York are among cities with the biggest gains.

CoreLogic’s measure of national prices also rose 0.5 percent in February from January– a solid increase during the winter months, when sales typically slow.

Soaring home prices continue to pull the real estate market into a steady recovery as the spring buying season approaches.

In February, U.S. home prices jumped 10.2 percent from the same period in the previous year, according to CoreLogic, a real estate data firm. That marks the largest annual gain in home values since March 2006, which was before the housing bubble burst.

Home prices have increased in the last 12 consecutive months when comparing year-to-year data, including a 9.7 percent gain in January and an 8.3 percent boost in December. On a monthly basis, home prices rose 0.5 percent from January to February this year — especially good news when considering the colder winter months tend to be slow.

“That’s impressive for being February,” said Mark Fleming, CoreLogic’s chief economist. “This is the off-season for housing, so prices rising this dramatically is a very good sign. Just like baseball’s Opening Day, April is opening month for the house-buying season.”

But, for now, the housing market is only showing signs of improvement.

In another heathy sign, the gains are happening in almost every state — Alabama, Delaware and Illinois being the exceptions. In Illinois, the sluggishness is attributed to a continued glut of foreclosures that is nagging the market there.

Topping February’s growth is Nevada, which saw a 19 percent increase, followed closely by Arizona at 18 percent and California with 15 percent. Rounding out the top five were Hawaii and Idaho, with 14 percent and 13 percent, respectively.

As for cities, the housing markets were particularly strong in Phoenix, Los Angeles, Atlanta and New York. Many of these markets, particularly those in Nevada, Arizona and California, were the hardest hit by the housing crisis. So as prices begin to rebound around the country, naturally, these areas are enjoying the biggest jumps.

“The rebound in prices is heavily driven by Western states,” Mr. Fleming said. “Eight of the top 10 highest appreciating large markets are in California, with Phoenix and Las Vegas rounding out the list.”

This growth comes as the Obama administration is pushing for looser lending standards from banks, so that consumers with weaker credit can also take advantage of the housing recovery and buy homes, according to news reports that surfaced this week. President Obama and his advisers want to make it easier for first-time buyers and those whose credit scores suffered due to the recession to purchase homes.

They reason that an uptick in home sales would drive the economy forward, but critics fear that this could once again lead to the practice of selling homes to people who can’t afford them.

Pound Ridge NY Weekly Real Estate Report

Homes for sale72Median Ask Price$995,000.00Low Price$375,000.00High Price$3,950,000.00Average Size4033Average Price/foot$337.00Average DOM139Average Ask Price$1,363,597.00

South Salem NY Weekly Real Estate Report

Homes for sale73Median Ask Price$589,000.00Low Price$239,000.00High Price$3,200,000.00Average Size2656Average Price/foot$272.00Average DOM168Average Ask Price$700,497.00

Scared stock trader image via Shutterstock.

Well, well, well. All week long, anxiety on several fronts had suppressed optimism and rates, but news of faltering job creation in March has produced a case of the quaking bejabbers.

Four weeks ago the 10-year T-note traded above 2.05 percent, presumably headed moonward, today 1.69 percent. The mortgage move has been smaller, but fears of 4 percent-plus have been replaced by hopes for 3.5 percent.

The stock-market guys joined by housing boosters had talked themselves into a sustainable flow of 250,000 new jobs each month, and the Fed nearing the QE exit. The 88,000 jobs reported today for March were half the forecast, but these forecasts are notoriously useless, and the error range in the report is as wide as the miss itself.

Those two fell-better thoughts cannot offset the worry that the good numbers last winter were the error, and this March report is the real deal. The Economic Cycle Research Institute’s Lakshman Achuthan has taken a fearsome beating for a recession call 16 months ago and published a defense last month — which predicted exactly today’s pattern: a yo-yo economy not really going anywhere. The Fed and some others fear a yo.

Times have changed. Due to inventory shortages across the country (down nearly 17% from last year) the tables have turned, and buyers are no longer in control like they were a few years ago. Not only is it hard to find a good home for sale, once you do, expect to be competing with lots of other buyers. Zillow offers a few tips to help buyers and sellers get the best results in the competitive market

Measuring 11,291 square feet, the home is described by listing agent Mark Rutstein as having “a true resort quality.” An entire wall in the dining room has been converted into a floor-to-ceiling wine rack. As for a place to bathe, the home has a spa-quality circular stone shower adjacent to a tranquil covered patio, according to AOL Real Estate.

The rate at which pool of mortgages tend to refinance is expected to reverse recent declines, according to mortgage bond analysts.

This prepayment rate forecast, “may surprise to the downside,” according to Sarah Hu and Ashley Gam, MBS strategists at the Royal Bank of Scotland.

“We expect April prepayments to increase by 3-5% based on faster housing turnover, stronger seasonality (+ 15%) and an increased day-count (+ 5%),” they write in a note to clients. Hu and Gam added that Bank of America  ($11.97 0.03%) and Citibank ($43.01 0.24%) mortgage pools are prepaying at a faster rate than JPMorgan Chase ($47.91 0.42%) and Wells Fargo [stock WFC][/stock].

Charles Tu, vice president of U.S. fixed income at TCW, said recent prepayment rate results came in close to expectations. 

“Forecasts called for a 12% decrease in prepays month-over-month, and the results were more or less in line with forecasts,” he said.

Fannie Mae-Bank of America pools show the most notable slowdown in mortgage refinancings at higher interest rates.

Indeed, higher coupon speeds are declining which may be reflective of what’s known in the bond market as “HARP burnout.”

According to RBS, recent declines in refinancings also occurred at lower coupons, especially if originated in the last two years, though to a lesser degree

It’s still possible to buy a foreclosure and make it the home of your dreams. It’s just harder these days.

Investors, both individuals and national corporations, are rushing into the market with the intent of turning foreclosed properties into cash-generating rental units.

Lenders are only slowly listing homes for sale at a time when the general appetite for home purchases is increasing. Demand for properties is leading to bidding wars and higher prices that aren’t necessarily justified by appraisals, putting deals at risk.

The latest data from the Obama Administration revealed important progress in the housing rebound, but much like the last scorecard, it continues to warn that the overall recovery remains fragile.

“As the March housing scorecard indicates, the Obama Administration’s efforts to speed housing recovery are continuing to show important signs of progress,” said the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Deputy Assistant Secretary for Economic Affairs Kurt Usowski.

Home prices continued their upward trajectory — although very slight — with the S&P Case-Shiller home price index up from an index score of 146.0 in January to 146.1. However, this index score is still much higher than the 135.2 mark recorded a year ago.

Existing-home sales rose from a revised 411,700 units in February to 415,000 in the latest Scorecard, according to data gathered from the National Association of Realtors, U.S. Census Bureau and HUD.

Housing inventory made a U-turn after dropping to a revised 4.3-month supply in February, it rose again to a 4.7-month supply, NAR said.

According to data from CoreLogic, the number of underwater borrowers continued to be chipped away, falling to 10.4 million in the most recent report from 10.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2012