FHFA: House Price Index Unchanged in January

(FHFA) -- Washington,  DC – U.S.  house  prices were  unchanged on  a  seasonally  adjusted  basis  from December to January, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s monthly House Price Index.   

The  previously reported  0.7 percent increase in December was  revised downward to reflect  a  0.1  percent  increase.    For  the  12  months  ending  in  January,  U.S.  prices  fell  0.8 percent.  The U.S. index is 19.2 percent below its April 2007 peak and roughly the same as the February 2004 index level.  

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.  For the nine census divisions, seasonally adjusted monthly price changes from December to January ranged from -1.7 percent in the West South Central division to +4.7 percent in the West North Central division.   

Monthly  index  values  and  appreciation  rate  estimates  for  recent  periods  are  provided  in  the table and graphs on the following pages.  

For  detailed  information  concerning  the  monthly  HPI,  please  see  the HPI Frequently Asked Questions. The next monthly  index release  will  be  on April 24,  2012 and  will  include HPI  data  for  February  2012.  First  quarter  2012  HPI  data  will  be  released  May  23,  2012.