CoreLogic’s Home Price Index showed that home prices nationwide rose by 0.8% from January to February and they were 4.4% higher when compared to February of last year. This annual appreciation reading declined from 5.5% in January but is still solid. CoreLogic forecasts that home prices will rise 0.2% in March and 3.7% in the year going forward, which is an upward revision from 3.1% in January’s report.

What’s the bottom line? CoreLogic’s Chief Economist Selma Hepp said that “U.S. home prices rose by 0.8% in February, double the month-over-month increase historically seen and indicating that prices in most markets have already bottomed out.” She also noted that “pent-up homebuyer demand is responding favorably to lower rates in many markets.”

On a related note, Black Knight’s latest Mortgage Monitor Report showed that home prices rose 0.2% in February, which is the first monthly gain since they peaked last June. Prices are now down just 2.6% from their peak, a far cry from a housing crash of 20% that some in the media have been predicting.