FHFA’s Index Continues to Register Price Increases

The ""Federal Housing Finance Agency"":http://www.fhfa.gov/ (FHFA) reported home prices continued to climb higher in September, with prices gaining by 0.2 percent from August.

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On the same day Tuesday, the Case-Shiller Indices ""posted"":http://dsnews.comarticles/case-shiller-indices-up-in-sept-momentum-slows-2012-11-27 a similar monthly increase of 0.3 percent.

FHFA's house price index (HPI) also revealed a quarterly price gain of 1.1 percent from the second to the third quarter. Compared to the third quarter last year, prices rose 4 percent.

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The agency stated the monthly index has increased for eight straight months now.

""With significant growth in home prices during the quarter and a modest inventory of homes available for sale, house price movements in the third quarter were similar to what we observed in the spring,"" said FHFA Principal Economist Andrew Leventis.

Yet, even with the consistent price gains, Leventis added, ""a number of factors continue to affect the recovery in home prices such as stagnant income growth, high unemployment levels, lingering uncertainty about the macroeconomy, and the large number of homes in the foreclosure pipeline.""

On a quarterly basis, the index also found price increases for 39 states. States that saw significant quarterly increases included
Delaware (+5.8 percent), Arizona (5.4 percent), and Nevada (+4.2 percent).

Of the nine census divisions observed, the Mountain led with a 3 percent quarterly gain. The Pacific region saw a 2 percent quarterly increase, while the East South Central and Middle Atlantic both struggled with quarterly losses of 0.15 percent.

FHFA's report is based on data for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgages originated over the past 37 years.