January 26, 2012 (Shirley Allen)
Monthly home prices in the United States rose a seasonally adjusted 1.0 percent in November following a revised 0.7 percent loss in October according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s monthly House Price Index (HPI).
November’s home prices were 1.8 percent lower than they were a year ago and since the market peak in April 2007, home prices have declined 18.8 percent and are at roughly the same levels last seen in February of 2004.
FHFA gathers its data by calculating purchase prices of houses backed by mortgages sold to or guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The data is then broken down into nine geographic Census Divisions.
Eight of the nine Census Divisions posted monthly price gains in November with the West South Central Division posting the largest price gain of 2.1 percent. The Middle Atlantic Division was the only division to see a decline, falling 0.2 percent during the month.
Seven of the Divisions registered year-over-year price declines with the Pacific Division posting the largest decline of 4.2 percent. The only two Divisions that posted an increase in annual home prices were the West South Central Division and the West North Central Division which posted increases of 2.1 and 0.1 percent, respectively.
Census Divisions:
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 prices, HPI, census divisions, price gains, price declines
Source:
FHFA