September 22, 2011 (Shirley Allen)

Home prices increased 0.8 percent from June to July but were still 3.3 percent below year ago levels according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s monthly House Price Index (HPI). It was the fourth consecutive month of price gains for the HPI.

According to the HPI, home prices have declined 18.4 percent below the June 2007 peak and are roughly at the same levels seen in March 2004.

FHFA gathers its data by calculating purchase prices of houses backed by mortgages sold to or guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The data is then broken down into nine geographic Census Divisions.

Month-over-month, eight of the nine Census Divisions experienced price gains with only the South Atlantic region posting a decline of 0.4 percent. The largest price gain was posted in the West North Central Region which saw a price increase of 3.6 percent.

Only one of the nine Divisions experienced a year-over-year price gain. The West North Central Division posted a year-over-year price gain of 0.2 percent, while the Mountain Division posted the largest decline of 6.9 percent.

Census Divisions:

Pacific: Hawaii, Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California

Mountain: Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico

West North Central: North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri

West South Central: Oklahoma, Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana

East North Central: Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio

East South Central: Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama

New England: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut

Middle Atlantic: New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania

South Atlantic: Delaware, Maryland, District of Columbia, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida

Tags: FHFA, home prices, HPI, census divisions, price gains, price declines

Source:
FHFA