March 23, 2011 (Shirley Allen)
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) reports that U.S. home prices declined by 0.3 percent in January 2011 compared to December 2010. The agency’s House Price Index (HPI) also revealed that prices were 3.9 percent lower than a year earlier in January of 2010.
The index is 16.5 percent lower than its April 2007 peak and is roughly at the same level as May 2004.
The FHFA monthly index is calculated using purchase prices of houses backing mortgages that have been sold to or guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.
On an unadjusted basis, prices have been dropping every month since June of 2010 and on a seasonally adjusted basis, prices have only increased once since that same time.
Monthly price changes by region (December 10- January 11):
| Region |
Percent Change |
|
Pacific |
0.4$ |
| Mountain |
-1.3% |
| West North Central |
-0.2% |
| West South Central |
1.6% |
| East North central |
-0.8% |
| East South Central |
0.4% |
| New England |
-0.2% |
| Middle Atlantic |
-0.6% |
| South Atlantic |
-1.3% |
| U.S. |
-0.3% |
Pacific: Hawaii, Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California
Mountain: Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New
Mexico
West North Central: North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas,
Missouri
West South Central: Oklahoma, Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana
East North Central: Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio
East South Central: Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama
New England: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island,
Connecticut
Middle Atlantic: New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania
South Atlantic: Delaware, Maryland, District of Columbia, Virginia, West Virginia,
North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida
Tags: FHFA, home price index, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, mortgages, monthly index
