House Price Index

U.S. House Price Index Report - 2Q 2008 / June 2008

Significant Findings:

Purchase-only Index:

1. Prices increased over the past four quarters in 12 states.
2. In the West South Central Division, prices rose by 1.5 percent over the past four quarters, but prices declined in all of the other divisions. Prices were weakest in the Pacific Census Division, where they dropped 15.6 percent.
3. Three states—California, Florida, and Nevada—saw prices decline more than 12 percent over the past two quarters.
4. The Census Division with the greatest seasonally-adjusted quarterly price increase was the West South Central Division, which saw prices rise 0.7 percent. The Pacific Census Division, the worst-performing division, experienced a seasonally-adjusted quarterly price decline of 5.0 percent.

All-transactions HPI:

1. The five states with the greatest price appreciation between the second quarters of 2007 and 2008 were: Oklahoma (4.9%), Wyoming (4.4%), South Dakota (3.8%), North Carolina (3.6%), and North Dakota (3.6%). The five states with the sharpest depreciation for the same period were: California (-15.8%), Nevada (-14.1%), Florida (-12.4%), Arizona (-9.2%), and Rhode Island (-4.8%).

2. The MSAs with the greatest appreciation over the past year were Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux, LA (9.1 percent), Decatur, AL (6.4 percent) and Charleston, WV (6.0 percent).

3. Of the 20 ranked cities with the greatest price declines over the last four quarters, all but one (Las Vegas-Paradise, Nevada) were in California or Florida.

4. The MSAs with the sharpest depreciation over the year were Merced, CA (-34.5%), Stockton, CA (-31.7%) and Modesto, CA (-28.5%).