CoreLogic’s Home Price Index put up it’s best numbers in nearly seven years in February.

The CoreLogic Home Price Index put up its best numbers in nearly seven years in January, with national home prices rising 9.7 percent year-over-year.

That’s the 11th consecutive month of of home price increases, and the largest yearly increase since April 2006; only Delaware and Illinois posted yearly price declines when including distressed sales.

From December to January, home prices were up 0.7 percent, but when distressed sales are excluded, the Home Price Index was up 1.8 percent.

CoreLogic Home Price Index – Good Sign for Housing

Mark Fleming, the chief economist for CoreLogic, said the strong winter performance of the Home Price Index bodes well for the spring homebuying season.

“The HPI showed strong growth during the typically slow winter season,” Fleming said. “With these gains, the housing market is poised to enter the spring selling season on sound footing.”

Carlos Garcia, a broker vice president with the Keyes Company in Miami and MBF member, has similar thoughts about Miami’s housing market.

“Prices will increase another 5 to 7 percent this year, in my opinion, across the board,” Garcia said. “If inventory continues to decrease, the appreciation will be further enhanced.”

Garcia added, however, that different price ranges will see different sale price patterns; though he expects homes priced $400,000 or less to see those 5 to 7 percent increases, homes priced $1.5 to $4 million will be stable, but could see some reductions.

And what can we expect for February? According to CoreLogic’s Pending Home Price Index, which uses MLS data to anticipate the next month’s data, home prices in February will rise 11.3 percent year-over-year and 1.8 percent from January. Take a look at our infographic below for some perspective on the recent home-price increases: