Washington, D.C. – U.S. home prices fell 0.7 percent in the second quarter of 2009 from the first quarter of 2009, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) seasonally-adjusted purchase-only House Price Index (HPI). This decline is slightly larger than the 0.5 percent decline in the prior quarterly period. Over the year ending in the second quarter of 2009, seasonally-adjusted prices fell 6.1 percent. The HPI is calculated using home sales price information from Fannie Mae- and Freddie Mac-acquired mortgages. The quarterly report analyzing housing price appreciation trends was released today by FHFA Senior Deputy Director and Chief Operating Officer Edward J. DeMarco.
The seasonally-adjusted monthly index for June rose 0.5 percent following a revised increase of 0.6 percent in May, but these gains did not fully offset earlier declines affecting the quarterly result. The monthly index has risen a net 0.5 percent over the first six months of this year.
"For the second consecutive quarter we are seeing much slower rates of depreciation in the HPI than in 2008," said DeMarco. "This is further evidence that prices may be stabilizing for the nation as a whole."
While the national, purchase-only house price index fell 6.1 percent from the second quarter of 2008 to the second quarter of 2009, prices of other goods and services fell 2.4 percent. Accordingly, the inflation-adjusted price of homes fell approximately 3.8 percent over the latest year.
FHFA’s all-transactions house price index, which include data from mortgages used for both home purchases and refinancings, declined more over the latest quarter than the purchase-only index. The all-transactions HPI decreased 2.4 percent in the latest quarter but was down only 4.0 percent over the four-quarter period.
Significant Findings:
As estimated in FHFA’s seasonally-adjusted, purchase-only indexes, six of the nine Census Divisions experienced price declines in the latest quarter.
Prices were weakest in the New England Division, which experienced a 1.6 percent price decline in the quarter and strongest in the West South Central Division, which saw a price increase of 0.2 percent.
Seasonally-adjusted, purchase-only indexes indicate that prices fell in the latest quarter in 38 states. Prices fell over the last year in 46 states and Washington, D.C.
In terms of four-quarter appreciation rates, 37 states and Washington, D.C. are ranked above the national average and only 13 are below average.
Of the recently released purchase-only indexes for the 25 most-populated metropolitan areas in the U.S., four-quarter price declines were greatest in the Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, FL Metropolitan Division. That area saw price declines of 28.2 percent from the second quarter of 2008.
Prices held up best in the Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX Metropolitan Area, where prices rose 2.9 percent over that period.The complete list of state appreciation rates is on pages 10 and 11.
The complete list of metropolitan area appreciation rates computed in a purchase-only series is on page 23 and on pages 26–39 for all-transactions indexes.
Background
FHFA’s purchase-only and all-transactions HPI track average house price changes in repeat sales or refinancings of the same single-family properties. The purchase-only index is based on more than five million repeat sales transactions, while the all-transactions index includes more than 36 million repeat transactions. Both indexes are based on data obtained from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for mortgages originated over the past 34 years.
FHFA analyzes the combined mortgage records of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which form the nation’s largest database of conventional, conforming mortgage transactions. The conforming loan limit for mortgages purchased since the beginning of 2006 has been $417,000. Loan limits for mortgages originated in the latter half of 2007 through Dec. 31, 2008 were raised to as much as $729,750 in high-cost areas in the continental United States. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, enacted in February 2009, extended those limits for 2009 originations in places where those limits were higher than those originally calculated for 2009.
This HPI report contains tables showing: 1) House price appreciation for the 50 states and Washington, D.C.; 2) House price appreciation by Census Division and for the U.S. as a whole; 3) A ranking of 296 MSAs and Metropolitan Divisions by house price appreciation; and 4) A list of one-year and five-year house price appreciation rates for MSAs not ranked.
Please e-mail FHFAinfo@FHFA.gov for a printed copy of the report.
The next quarterly HPI report, which will include data for the third quarter of 2009, will be released Nov. 24, 2009.
The next monthly index, which will include data through July 2009, will be released Sept. 22, 2009.
Corinne Russell (202) 649-3032 / Stefanie Johnson (202) 649-3030