FHFA: Home Prices Up 0.1 Percent in July

U.S. house prices rose in July, up 0.1 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from the previous month, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) monthly House Price Index (HPI).  The previously reported 0.4 percent increase in June was revised to reflect a 0.3 percent increase. The FHFA HPI is calculated using home sales price information from mortgages either sold to or guaranteed by the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs), Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. From July 2013 to July 2014, house prices were up 4.4 percent. The U.S. index is 6.4 percent below its April 2007 peak and is roughly the same as the July 2005 index level.  This is the eighth consecutive monthly house price increase. For the nine census divisions, seasonally adjusted monthly price changes from June 2014 to July 2014 ranged from -0.5 percent in the Middle Atlantic division to +0.4 percent in the East North Central division. The 12-month changes were all positive ranging from +1.6 percent in the Middle Atlantic division to +7.2 percent in the Pacific division.