Washington-area home prices rose 6.7 percent in May from a year ago — the second-highest jump in the country — according to data released Tuesday by the business analytics company CoreLogic.

The area’s 6.7 percent appreciation was second to the 7.9 percent increase in the Riverside-San Bernadino-Ontario, Calif., region.

Among states, Virginia’s 6.8 percent increase was second only to California’s 7.9 increase. Maryland had the fourth-worst depreciation, at -3.1 percent, and the District’s home prices increased 2.4 percent, the report said.

Nationally, prices increased 2.9 percent.

Still, a caveat — nationwide, prices declined 28.5 percent from April 2006 to May 2010, the report said. And Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic, didn’t sound terribly optimistic about prospects during the second half of the year.

“Home price appreciation stabilized as homebuyer tax credit driven sales peaked in late spring,” he said. “But given that the labor market and income growth remain tepid we expect prices to moderate and possibly decline the rest of the year.”