The number of homes listed for sale in the Denver metro area in April was down 17.5 percent from April 2013, the fifth straight consecutive month of falling inventory, according to Alexa Fiander, spokeswoman for Zilllow.

She said Wednesday that home values in the Denver metro area rose 7.4 percent in April compared to April 2013 with a national increase of 5.3 percent over the same period.

Fiander said Denver metro home values are expected to rise 1.0 percent in the next 12 months according to the Zillow Home Value Forecast.

According to the report, the Zillow Home Value Index for the metro area was $248,000 in April. The ZHVI is the mid-point of estimated home values for an area.

Nationally the home values in the United States measured by the same index was $170,200.

Home values were $257,900 in Denver; $175,000 in Aurora; $249,600 in Lakewood; $213,000 in Thornton and $220,000 in Westminster.

Rents skyrocketed in the Denver metro area over the year posting a 6.8 percent change to $1,673 while national rents increased 2.3 percent between April 2013 and April 2014 to $1,311.

The top neighborhoods for rent appreciation included Fort Logan, up 16.5 percent; Lincoln Park, up 15.1 percent and Bear Valley, up 14.7 percent. However, rents declined by -6.1 percent in Civic Center; -5.8 percent in Stapleton; -3.5 percent at Lowry Field, and -3.2 percent in Wellshire.

Zillow said that U.S. home values showed the first monthly decline in two years, falling -0.1 percent between March and April. In Denver, however, there was no change between March and April.

Denver was one of 21 of the nation’s 35 largest metro areas that showed year-over-year inventory declines.

Stan Humphries, Zillow’s chief economist, said in a statement that first time homebuyers are ready to buy but can’t because of the lack of homes for sale in their price range.

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“This shortage of inventory is driven by a couple of factors, most notably by stubbornly high negative equity, particularly at the lower end of the market, which is preventing many sellers from listing their homes,” said Humphries.

Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939, hpankratz@denverpost.com or twitter.com/howardpankratz