CHICAGO — Prices for Cook County single family homes in the third quarter of 2013 were up nearly 13 percent year over year, according to the Dec. 12 release of the Cook County House Price Index from the Institute for Housing Studies at DePaul University. This represents the largest year-over-year increase in house prices in the 16 years covered by the institute.

The most recent data shows this large year-over-year increase was the result of strong quarters in the first half of 2013. Though this marks the fourth consecutive positive quarter for Cook County house prices, the third quarter of 2013 represents the smallest quarter-to-quarter increase observed in 2013, with prices rising just 2.7 percent from the second quarter of the year. While the most recent index shows continued recovery in house prices, home prices in Cook County remain down by more than 32 percent from what they were at their peak in the fourth quarter of 2006.

Neighborhoods hardest hit by the foreclosure crisis show a 13 percent year-over-year increase, which is a larger increase than in areas less affected by the crisis. However these high-foreclosure neighborhoods still have a very long road to full price recovery. House prices in these areas are down 57 percent from their peak in the third quarter of 2007 and down 32 percent from where they were in 2000.

The index also finds that prices within the city of Chicago and suburban Cook County are recovering at a more similar pace than in the most recent quarter. In the city, prices for single family homes increased 13.3 percent while in suburban Cook County, the increase was 12.7 percent. Suburban Cook County still has a longer way to go to get back to where prices were at their peak, however. Suburban Cook County is down 34.2 percent from peak prices, while the city is only down 30.6 percent from its peak.

“It is encouraging to see Cook County’s single family housing market experiencing a consistent, positive trend over the past year with price increases touching all neighborhoods,” said Geoff Smith, executive director of the Institute for Housing Studies. “However, the county’s housing market, particularly in its hardest hit neighborhoods, still has a long way to go, and there are concerns that the declining quarterly rate of price growth may indicate a slowdown.”

The Institute for Housing Studies is a research center based at DePaul University that provides analysis and data to inform affordable housing policy and practice. The institute’s third quarter 2013 House Price Index tracks quarterly price changes for single family properties in Cook County with repeat sales from the first quarter of 1997 through the third quarter of 2013. The report is at http://bit.ly/1hLeePH.