U.S. Home Prices Edge Slightly 0.7 Percent Upward From July to August

U.S. house prices rose 0.7 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from July to August, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s monthly House Price Index (HPI). The previously reported 0.2 percent increase in July was revised downward to a 0.1 percent increase. For the 12 months ending in August, U.S. prices rose 4.7 percent. The U.S. index is 15.9 percent below its April 2007 peak and is roughly the same as the June 2004 index level. For the nine census divisions, seasonally adjusted monthly price changes from July to August ranged from -0.5 percent in the East South Central division to +3.0 percent in the Pacific division while the 12-month changes ranged from 0.4 percent in the Middle Atlantic division to +11.4 percent in the Mountain division. FHFA uses the purchase prices of houses with mortgages owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac to calculate the monthly index.