OXFORD, Miss., July 30, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- FNC's latest
Residential Price Index(TM) (RPI) indicates that U.S. residential
property values continue to rise in May, widening March's and April's
gains to capture the strongest seasonal price rebound in five years.
Nationwide, May home prices -- based on recorded non-distressed sales
transactions in the 100 largest metropolitan areas -- rose 0.8% from
the previous month. Limited inventory amid rising seasonal demand and
falling numbers of distressed properties in total home sales continue
to be the driving force behind the price recovery. FNC's RPI is the
industry's first hedonic price index built on a comprehensive database
that blends public records with real-time appraisals of property
characteristics and neighborhood attributes.1

Based on the latest data on non-distressed home sales (existing and new
homes) through May, FNC's national RPI shows that single-family home
prices rose in May at a seasonally unadjusted rate of 0.8%.2 As a gauge
of underlying home value, the RPI excludes sales of foreclosed homes,
which are frequently sold with large price discounts reflecting poor
property conditions. Cumulatively, home prices nationwide rose 2.4%
between March and May -- the largest three-month gain when compared to
the same period in the last five years.

The strong price momentum is seen across all three RPI composites (the
National, 30-MSA, and 10-MSA indices), but the two narrower indices
show that home prices rose faster in the nation's largest housing
markets, averaging more than 1.0% per month. The 3-month cumulative
gains for the 30-MSA and 10-MSA composites are 3.4% and 3.3%,
respectively. In the meantime, the indices' year-over-year trends
continue to show decelerations in the pace of price declines when
compared to the same month a year ago. May's negative 1.4%
year-over-year marks the slowest pace of price declines since July
2007.

Almost without exception, all markets tracked by the FNC 30-MSA
composite index show a month-over-month increase in May, ranging from a
flat 0.1% in San Antonio and Charlotte to a strong 3.2% in Cleveland
and Miami. (See the included May 2012 vs. April 2012 table.) Strong
price rebounds are seen in several highly distressed markets including
Atlanta (2.2%), Orlando (1.1%), Phoenix (2.2%), Tampa (2.3%), and
Cleveland (3.2%). Meanwhile, these markets' year-over-year trends have
also improved steadily since the beginning of 2012. In January, home
prices in Las Vegas and Atlanta were declining year-over-year at 9.5%
and 9.3%, respectively, the worst among the country's largest MSAs. At
the end of May, the cities' year-over-year decline moderated to -4.1%
and -4.9%, respectively. The year-to-date table below provides a
snapshot of price change from the beginning of the year through May
2012. Except for Charlotte, Denver, and Baltimore, all other major
cities show positive price change during 2012. According to the 30-MSA
composite index, home prices rose 2.9% year-to-date.

1The FNC National Residential Price Index is a volume-weighted
aggregate price index consisting of 100 major metropolitan areas across
different regions of the U.S. All FNC Residential Price Indices are
constructed to capture unsmoothed home price trends.

2The hedonic procedures used to create the index are described in
"Hedonic versus repeat-sales housing price indexes for measuring the
recent boom-bust cycle," by Dorsey, R.E., Hu, H., Mayer, W.J., and
Wang, H.C., Journal of Housing Economics 19 (2), 75--93.

To interview any of FNC's mortgage industry experts, contact:Bill
Dabney, manager of public relationsFNC, Inc.Phone
662/236.8304bdabney@fncinc.com

About FNC, Inc.

Since 1999, FNC has pioneered real estate information technology,
automated appraisal ordering, tracking, documentation and review for
lender and servicer compliance with government regulations. FNC's
platforms are in production at seven of the 10 largest U.S. mortgage
lenders and provide value to large and small lenders with reduced costs
and more efficient loan processing. With collateral management
platforms, data and analytics, FNC provides advanced insight into the
property backing a loan from origination to capital markets. Visit FNC
online at www.fncinc.com.

The FNC, Inc. logo is available at
http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=9799

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-residential-price-index-up-0-8-,c9288033

The following files are available for download:


  wkr0006.pdf   PDF                        
  [Image]       FNC Composite Indexes      
  [Image]       FNC Metro Indexes          
  [Image]       FNC Year-over-Year Index