FHFA: U.S. Home Prices Rise 0.6 Percent

U.S. house prices rose 0.6 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from December to January, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s monthly House Price Index (HPI). The previously reported 0.6 percent increase in December was revised downward to a 0.5 percent increase. For the 12 months ending in January, U.S. prices rose 6.5 percent. The U.S. index is 14.4 percent below its April 2007 peak and is roughly the same as the September 2004 index level. National home prices have not declined on a monthly basis since January 2012. For the nine census divisions, seasonally adjusted monthly price changes from December to January ranged from -0.7 percent in the New England division to +1.6 percent in the Pacific division, while the 12-month changes ranged from +0.4 percent in the Middle Atlantic division to +14.1 percent in the Mountain division.