Single-Family Home Prices Up, But Below Expectations….

Earlier today, we discussed the question: Is Home Building, Housing Market in General on the Rise?

According to the latest data from the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA)’s House Price Index, the answer to this question is “Yes,” but not a resounding one.

January index prices were up 0.6% from the previous month, 0.1 percentage points below consensus.

The index, which manages single-family home prices from data gathered by Fannie and Freddie, also saw its December figure revised downward by 0.1 percentage points to 0.5%. Courtesy of the FHFA’s report itself, here’s a look at home prices on an aggregate scale.

At current levels, prices are near May ’04 and May ’08 levels, or about 13% below their pre-crisis peak (roughly speaking).

Equally as important, here’s a look at the 12-month price changes by region:

Clearly, the Pacific and Mountain regions are in the best shape, and have also exhibited the best year-over-year improvement. The New England and Middle Atlantic regions, meanwhile, haven’t demonstrated a similar amount of growth, which is worth pointing out.

The states in the Middle Atlantic region are New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, while the states in the New England region are Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut.

Disclosure: none