Home values on properties secured by conforming mortgages increased 1.0% in July over June on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency House Price Index.
Between May and June, the HPI increased 0.7%. This index is calculated using home price information from loans sold to or guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Brent Nyitray, the director of capital markets at iServe Residential Lending, commented, “The FHFA index is more of a central tendency index because it focuses on homes with conforming mortgages attached to it—in other words, it ignores the jumbo space and cash transaction which are often distressed sales.” The index also only covers data from purchase mortgages.
On a year-over-year basis, the FHFA HPI is up 8.8%, but right now it is 9.6% below its peak month of April 2007. The current index value is 205.5, compared with June’s 203.5 and July 2012’s 188.9.
By region, the East South Central states of Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama saw a 0.7% decline in value, while the neighboring West South Central region of Oklahoma, Arkansas, Texas and Louisiana lost 0.4% in value.
The largest gain was seen in the Pacific states, up 2.2%.
