Woodard Mortgage Group

Average home prices rose 2.4 percent in North Carolina over the first 11 months of 2012, according to Jacksonville, Fla.-based Lender Processing Services, (NYSE:LPS).

The mortgage analytics firm says the state average was $169,000 as of Nov. 30, up by $4,000 from January of 2012.

During the real estate and housing boom, North Carolina averages peaked at $187,000, nearly 10 percent above the November 2012 level.

LPS considers foreclosure and short sales when coming up with its monthly loan data.

For the U.S. as a whole, the November 2012 price average was $206,000, which was 5.6 percent better than at the beginning of the year, but still 22 percent lower than the June 2006 peak of $266,000, says LPS.