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FHFA’s Home Price Index Continues to Head South

Home prices fell 1.6% in February after a 1% dip in January as the GSE regulator's house price index hit yet another new low since values reached their peak in April 2007.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) seasonally adjusted HPI also shows that prices have fallen four consecutive months with the index down 4% since November.

February's 1.6% decline is the second largest monthly drop since FHFA started its HPI in 1991. The largest decline, 1.8%, occurred in November 2008 just as world financial markets were inching toward a near collapse.

Overall, the FHFA HPI is down 8.6% since the 2007 peak in prices.

The FHFA HPI is based only on the purchase price of homes that are financed with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac-backed mortgages. Federal Home Administration, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Jumbo and private mortgages are excluded from the calculation.

In February, prices fell in all nine regions tracked by the GSE regulator. Value declines ranged from 0.6% in the East South Central (including Kentucky and Alabama) states to 3.7% in the Mountain states.

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