FHFA: House Price Index Drops 0.2 Percent in October

U.S. house prices fell 0.2 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from September to October, according to the latest monthly House Price Index published by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). The previously reported 0.9 percent increase in September was revised downward to reflect a 0.4 percent increase. For the 12 months ending in October, U.S. prices fell 2.8 percent. The U.S. index is 19.2 percent below its April 2007 peak and roughly the same as the February 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. For the nine census divisions, seasonally adjusted monthly price changes from September to October ranged from -1.0 percent in the New England division to +2.0 percent in the East South Central division.