U.S. home prices continued to see notable gains in October 2013 both monthly and annually, adding to the nation’s overall growth progress toward its former peak levels, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA).
Home prices in October rose 0.5% on a seasonally adjusted basis from the previous month, notes FHFA’s monthly Home Price Index (HPI), marking the twenty-first consecutive monthly price increase in the purchase-only, seasonally adjusted index.
Calculating HPI based on home sales price information from mortgages either sold or guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the FHFA also found that home prices increased 8.2% on a yearly basis in October 2013 when compared to October 2012.
October’s gains now bring the U.S. index just 8.8% below its April 2007 peak and is now roughly the same as the April 2005 index level, according to FHFA analysis.
Monthly price changes from September to October for the nine census divisions ranged from a decline of 1% in the East South Central division (KY, TN, MS, AL) to an increase of 1.2% in the Mountain division (MT, ID, WY, NV, UT, CO, AZ, NM), respectively.
Conversely, 12-month home price changes ranged from gains of 4.7% in the East South Central division to 17.5% in the Pacific division (HI, AK, WA, OR, CA), respectively.
FHFA’s next release of its HPI data will arrive January 23, 2014.
Written by Jason Oliva
