FHFA: U.S. Home Prices Rise Nearly One Percent From April to May

U.S. house prices rose 0.8 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from March to April, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) monthly House Price Index. The previously reported 1.8 percent increase in March was revised downward to reflect a 1.6 percent increase. For the 12 months ending in April, U.S. prices rose three percent. The U.S. index is 17.6 percent below its April 2007 peak and is roughly the same as the April 2004 index level. The FHFA monthly index is calculated using purchase prices of houses backing mortgages that have been sold to or guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. For the nine census divisions, seasonally adjusted monthly price changes from March to April ranged from -1.2 percent in the New England division to +2.2 percent in the Pacific division.