Washington, D.C. – U.S. house prices rose in February, with an increase of 0.6 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from the previous month, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) monthly House Price Index (HPI).  The seasonally adjusted purchase-only index for the U.S. has shown increases for the last three months despite a harsh winter season.  The 0.1 percent decrease in November 2013 ended a 21-month trend of price increases that had begun in February 2012.  The previously reported 0.5 percent increase in January was revised downward to 0.4 percent.

The FHFA HPI is calculated using home sales price information from mortgages either sold to or guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. From February 2013 to February 2014, house prices were up 6.9 percent. The U.S. index is 7.6 percent below its April 2007 peak and is roughly the same as the June 2005 index level.

For the nine census divisions, seasonally adjusted monthly price changes from January 2014 to February 2014 ranged from -2.5 percent in the New England division to +1.7 percent in the South Atlantic division. The 12-month changes were all positive ranging from +0.6 percent in the New England division to +14.3 percent in the Pacific division.

Monthly index values and appreciation rate estimates for recent periods are provided in the table and graphs on the following pages. Complete historical data are available on the Downloadable HPI Data page.

For detailed information on the monthly HPI,see HPI Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ). The next HPI report will be released May 27, 2014 and will include monthly data for March 2014 and quarterly data for the first quarter of 2014. Future HPI release dates for 2014 are available on the HPI Release Dates page.

Link to Monthly House Price Index Report