U.S. Home Prices Up 0.4 Percent in May

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) reported that U.S. house prices rose 0.4 percent in May from the previous month. The April index value has been revised to reflect a 0.1 percent monthly price increase, above the original estimate of no change. The FHFA House Price Index (HPI) is calculated using home sales price information from mortgages either sold to or guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. From May 2013 to May 2014, house prices were up 5.5 percent. The U.S. index is 6.5 percent below its April 2007 peak and is roughly the same as the July 2005 index level. For the nine census divisions, seasonally adjusted monthly price changes from April 2014 to May 2014 ranged from -0.7 percent in the East South Central division to +1.1 percent in the West South Central division. The 12-month changes were all positive ranging from +2.5 percent in the Middle Atlantic division to +9.6 percent in the Pacific division.