Notice of Establishment of Housing Price Index; Notice and Request for Input

SUMMARY: The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is establishing and shall maintain a method for assessing the national average single-family house price for use in adjusting the conforming loan limits of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the “Enterprises”). For these purposes, FHFA has considered a number of different measures, including the House Price Index maintained by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) of the Department of Housing and Urban Development before the effective date of the Federal Housing Finance Regulatory Reform Act of 2008. FHFA also considered house price indexes of the Bureau of the Census of the Department of Commerce as well as other privately-produced indexes.

FHFA intends to use the FHFA “expanded-data” house price index (HPI)—an index it publishes on a quarterly basis—to adjust the conforming loan limit. This Notice solicits public input. Once public input is reviewed, another Notice will be published describing FHFA’s final determination.