Home prices rebounded in 2013, helping more than 3 million home owners regain long-lost equity, according to CoreLogic’s latest MarketPulse report. 

"We’re encouraged by the improvements of the past year and have every reason to be cautiously optimistic about continued progress in 2014. That said, monitoring the current and potential headwinds the industry faces is critical," says Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic.

More than two-thirds of all homes with a mortgage now have at least 20 percent equity, giving home owners more options in the housing market in the new year and increasing their employment mobility. 

Still, 6.4 million residential properties have negative equity, and a third of those are concentrated in five states: Nevada, Florida, Arizona, Ohio, and Georgia. 

Some of the biggest jumps in home prices over the last six months has occurred in Chicago and Raleigh, N.C., CoreLogic reports. 

"That acceleration is consistent with our prior analysis, which showed that Chicago has had the most rapid growth of any market for owner-occupied purchase transactions in the past two years," the report said. 

Source: Housing Wire