U.S. Home Prices Rise 0.8 Percent in May

U.S. house prices rose 0.8 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from April to May, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s monthly House Price Index (HPI). The previously reported 0.8 percent increase in April was revised downward to a 0.7 percent increase. For the 12 months ending in May of 2012, U.S. prices rose 3.7 percent. The U.S. index is 17 percent below its April 2007 peak and is roughly the same as the May 2004 index level. The FHFA monthly index is calculated using purchase prices of houses with 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 April to May 2012 ranged from -1.0 percent in the West South Central division to +1.7 percent in the Pacific division.