RISMEDIA, November 25, 2009—U.S. house prices rose modestly in the third quarter of 2009 according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) seasonally adjusted purchase-only house price index (HPI). The HPI, calculated using home sales price information from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac-acquired mortgages, was 0.2% higher on a seasonally adjusted basis in the third quarter than in the second quarter of 2009. Over the past year, seasonally adjusted prices fell 3.8% from the third quarter of 2008 to the third quarter of 2009.
FHFA’s seasonally adjusted monthly index for September 2009 was unchanged from August. The monthly change for the July-to-August period was revised to -0.5%, from an initial estimate of -0.3%. “These data provide some evidence of short-term stabilization in housing prices, a likely result of the many ongoing efforts to stabilize markets,” said DeMarco. “Given the headwinds facing markets across the country, including high unemployment rates and continued high levels of delinquency and foreclosures, the longer-term view remains uncertain.”
While the national, purchase-only house price index fell 3.8% from the third quarter of 2008 to the third quarter of 2009, prices of other goods and services fell 2.8%. Accordingly, the inflation-adjusted price of houses fell approximately 1.0% over the latest year.
Unlike the FHFA purchase-only index, FHFA’s all-transactions house price index, which includes data from mortgages used for both home purchases and refinancings, fell over the latest quarter. The index declined 2.4% in the latest quarter and 4.1% over the four-quarter period.
Additional findings include:
-Of the nine Census Divisions, the Mountain and Pacific Divisions, both in the Western U.S., experienced the most significant price movements in the latest quarter. Prices fell 1.4% in the Mountain Division, while prices increased 1.9% in the Pacific Division.
-Seasonally adjusted, purchase-only indexes indicate that prices rose in the latest quarter in 19 states and Washington, D.C. Prices rose over the latest four quarters in only seven states.
-The purchase-only index for California rose 2.1% between the second and third quarters of this year.
-Of the purchase-only indexes for the 25 most-populated metropolitan areas in the U.S., four-quarter price declines were greatest in the Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ Metropolitan Statistical Area. In that area, prices declined 22.0% between the third quarters of 2008 and 2009. Prices held up best in the Denver-Aurora-Broomfield, CO Metropolitan Area, where prices rose 3.3% over that period.
For more information, visit www.fhfa.gov.
