Jan. home prices, down 6.3% annually, rise 1.7% from Dec.
WASHINGTON -- U.S. home prices were down 6.3% in January from the same month last year, the Federal Housing Finance Agency said Tuesday, but prices, on a seasonally adjusted basis, rose 1.7% from December to January.
Changes in the geographic mix of sales explained the unexpected monthly increase. Home sales included in January's data were weighted toward areas that haven't borne as much of the brunt of the housing recession, the agency said.
The government index is calculated using mortgage loans bought or guaranteed by federally controlled mortgage-finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. It is down 9.6% from its peak in April 2007.
Census regions:
Pacific: Hawaii, Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California.Mountain: Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico.West North Central: North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri.West South Central: Oklahoma, Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana.East North Central: Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio.East South Central:Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama.New England: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut.Middle Atlantic: New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania.South Atlantic: Delaware, Maryland, District of Columbia, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida.
