The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) reported this morning that U.S. home prices rose 0.3% sequentially in the month of August. Compared with August 2012, the house price index has gained 8.5%.
The FHFA monthly index is calculated using purchase prices of houses with mortgages that have been sold to or guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. The index is 9.4% below its April 2007 peak and is roughly equivalent to its level in April 2005.
Home prices continue to recover fastest in the Mountain states, which saw a price hike of 1.3% compared with July. For the past 12 months, gains have been greatest in the Pacific states, up 18.2% and lowest in the Middle Atlantic states, which are up 4%.
The August gain was the smallest this year. Price gains were highest at the beginning of the year.
The consensus estimate for August called for an increase of 0.8%. The slowing pace of price hikes could provide a boost going forward or, perhaps more likely, buyers are gearing up for the holiday shopping season and putting home buying on hold for a while.
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