Home Prices See Nearly One Percent Month to Month Jump

According to the monthly House Price Index (HPI) from the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), U.S. house prices rose 0.8 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from June to July. The previously reported 0.9 percent increase in June was revised to a 0.7 percent increase. For the 12 months ending in July, U.S. prices fell 3.3 percent. The U.S. index is 18.4 percent below its April 2007 peak and roughly the same as the March 2004 index level. The FHFA monthly index is calculated using purchase prices of houses backing mortgages that have been sold to or guaranteed by the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs), Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. The FHFA serves as the conservator for the GSEs. For the nine census divisions, seasonally-adjusted monthly price changes from June to July ranged from -0.4 percent in the South Atlantic division to +3.6 percent in the West North Central division. The West North Central division, where prices increased 0.2 percent, was the only division to experience a price increase over the past 12 months.