Home Prices Rise for 19th Straight Month; Pace Decelerating

Home prices posted a 19^{th</supconsecutive monthly gain in August the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA)rnsaid on Wednesday.  FHFA's purchase only HomernPrice Index (HPI) rose 0.3 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from July butrnthe 1.0 percent increase previously reported for July was revised down to 0.8rnpercent.</p}

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On a year-over-year basis the Augustrnindex was up 8.5 percent.  Prices havernnow returned to the April 2005 index level but remain 9.4 percent below thernhome price peak attained in April 2007.</p

The index increased in seven of the ninernU.S. Census Divisions in August with the South Atlantic and East North Centralrndivisions experiencing declines.  The SouthrnAtlantic region, which encompasses all coastal states from Delaware to Floridarnplus West Virginia, was down 0.5 percent and the East North Central (Michigan,rnWisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio) division saw prices go down 0.3 percent.rn</p

The largest month-over-month increasesrnwere in the Mountain (Utah, Montana, Colorado, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico,rnIdaho) and West North Central (Minnesota, both Dakotas, Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas,rnMissouri) divisions which rose 1.3 percent and 1.2 percent respectively.  </p

The August 2012 to August 2013 changesrnwere largest in the Pacific Region (California, Oregon, Washington, Hawaii, andrnAlaska) where prices appreciated 18.2 percent and the Mountain division with arn13.8 gain.  The smallest annual increasernwas in the Middle Atlantic division which consists of New York, New Jersey, andrnPennsylvania and where prices were up 4.0 percent.</p

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The FHFA index is calculated using homernsales price information from mortgages sold to or guaranteed by the governmentrnsponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie May.

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