Home prices in the United States bounced back slightly during the month of October, according to data released by the ""Federal Housing Finance Agency"":http://www.fhfa.gov (FHFA) Wednesday.
FHFA's house price index is calculated using purchase prices of homes backing mortgages that have been sold to or guaranteed by ""Fannie Mae"":http://www.fanniemae.com and ""Freddie Mac"":http://www.freddiemac.com. It showed that residential property values rose 0.7 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from September to October.
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The previously reported 0.7 percent decrease in September was revised downward to a 1.2 percent decrease. For the 12 months ending in October, FHFA says U.S. home prices fell 3.4 percent. The index is 14.5 percent below its April 2007 peak.
For the nine Census divisions, seasonally adjusted monthly price changes from September to October ranged from -2.3 percent in the East South Central division to +2.1 percent in the East North Central division.
In a research note issued following FHFA’s index release, ""Capital Economics"":http://www.capitaleconomics.com pointed out that the 0.7 percent month-over-month gain in national home prices in October is overshadowed by the downward revision for September.
“Averaging those two months out, prices are still falling,†the research firm said. “Overall, we expect another very weak year for housing in 2011, with slow sales and excess supply of homes on the market generating a further modest decline in prices.â€Â