Home prices in the U.S. rose in April for the first time since last spring, the ""Federal Housing Finance Agency"":http://www.fhfa.gov (FHFA) reported Wednesday.
The agency's House Price Index recorded a 0.8 percent seasonally adjusted increase between March and April â€" the first month-over-month gain since May 2010.
[IMAGE] [COLUMN_BREAK]The index is calculated using purchase prices of houses backing mortgages that have been sold to or guaranteed by ""Fannie Mae"":http://www.fanniemae.com and ""Freddie Mac"":http://www.freddiemac.com.
FHFA noted that the previously reported 0.3 percent decrease in March was revised to a 0.4 percent decrease.
For the 12 months ending in April, U.S. prices fell 5.7 percent, based on FHFA’s calculations.
The agency’s index is 19.3 percent below its April 2007 peak and roughly the same level as January 2004.
Property prices in March varied across the nine Census divisions, with six recording increases and three posting declines.
The largest monthly gain of 2.2 percent occurred in the New England division, which includes Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut.
The biggest drop of 1.3 percent occurred in the Mountain division, encompassing Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico.