Providence home prices rise in May, lagging other metro areas

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Home Price Index in the Providence metropolitan area rose 2.4 percent year to year in May, climbing from $228,000 to $234,000, according to the monthly Home Price Index report released Monday by Lender Processing Services.
From April to May, home prices rose 0.9 percent, which ranked the Providence region 35th among the country’s 40 largest metropolitan areas. The current index of $234,000 is still 24.5 percent lower than its peak of $310,000 in June 2006.
Nationwide, the home price index in May was $226,000, a 7.9 percent year-to-year jump and 1.3 percent higher than in April. The report uses real estate transaction data from more than 18,500 ZIP codes across the country.
Month to month, Nevada, California and Arizona saw their indices rise the most in May, while Oklahoma, Louisiana and Arkansas posted the slowest growth. Among metropolitan areas, Las Vegas topped the list with 3.2 percent monthly growth, while home prices in Ocean City, N.J., increased only 0.1 percent.