Washington, D.C. – U.S. house prices rose 0.7 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from January to February, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s monthly House Price Index (HPI). For the 12 months ending in February, U.S. house prices rose 7.1 percent. The U.S. index is 13.6 percent below its April 2007 peak and is roughly the same as the October 2004 index level. U.S. house prices have not declined on a monthly basis since January 2012.
For the nine census divisions, seasonally adjusted monthly price changes from January to February ranged from -0.6 percent in the Middle Atlantic division to +1.7 percent in the South Atlantic division, while the 12-month changes ranged from +1.9 percent in the Middle Atlantic division to +15.3 percent in the Pacific division.
FHFA uses the purchase prices of houses with mortgages owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac to calculate the monthly index. Monthly index values and appreciation rate estimates for recent periods are provided in the table and graphs on the following pages. For complete historical data, visit the HPI Datasets page.
For detailed information on the monthly HPI, see HPI Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ). The next HPI release will be May 23, 2013 and will include monthly data for March and quarterly data for the first quarter of 2013. Release dates for 2013 are available on the House Price Index page.
Corinne Russell (202) 649-3032 / Stefanie Johnson (202) 649-3030