House Prices Fell 1.3% in September, Says FHFA

House prices declined 1.3% over the month of September, following August's downwardly revised -0.8% figure, according to the monthly house price index from the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), released Tuesday.

The consensus had been looking for a decline of 0.7% in September. August's index was originally reported to have fallen by 0.6%.

In the third quarter data, U.S. housing prices fell 1.8%, down from the prior quarter's -1.4% result.

Seven of the nine regions surveyed saw declines in the month. Leading the decreases was a 2.8% fall in the South Atlantic region, followed by a 2.6% decline in the Mountain region.

Prices also fell 2.1% in the Pacific region, 1.9% in the East-North Central region and 1.2% in the New England region.

The smallest drops were seen in the East-South Central region, which fell by 0.8%, the West North Central region, which fell 0.5%.

The only regions where prices advanced were in West South Central, which saw a 0.7% monthly gain and the Middle Atlantic, which grew 0.8%.

The FHFA monthly index, formerly called the OFHEO monthly house price index, is calculated using purchase prices of single-family houses backed by mortgages that have been sold to or guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.

By Steve Stecyk and edited by Stephen Huebl
©CEP News Ltd. 2008