The Federal Housing Finance Agency has just issued their monthly report about house value and sales
. The report shows that home prices increased by 0.8 percent from March to April 2010. This increase is a good sign of recovery in the housing market.
The report shows that the increase in house value i may be due to the deadline of the first time home buyers programs that ended April 30th. To qualify for the credit, buyers must have been locked into a valid home purchasing contract prior to this date. The report also shows that the incentive for down payment assistance may have also helped raise the bids on the homes.
The FHFA bases their monthly reports on data collected from homes that have been purchased with mortgages backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. They do not include any data from private lenders. The information is also seasonally adjusted and is a combination of all the data throughout the United States. Some areas experienced higher price increases, while others saw prices drop. The information in the report is an average of all this data.
Current data shows that the largest increase in home prices happened in the western part of the United States. North and south western states saw a large increase in house value, topping 1.7% in one month. North eastern states on the other hand lost value. Home prices in the south east showed neither an increase nor decrease in value. Data also shows that the increase is equivalent to the same time period in 2004, before the real estate boom. This is another indicator that the real estate market is leveling out and not continuing to fall as some have speculated. The agency believes they will see the same results on the May data.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency provides oversight, supervision and regulation over Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae and the Federal Home Loan Banks. Home value is determined by the amount that the house sold for in comparison to asking price or the amount of debt that was owed on the home. The next report is due out on July 22, which will show data collected from May. The market will be carefully watching this report to see if the end of the tax credit means the housing market will stagnate again.
It is the FHFA's position to ensure that the mortgage market remains liquid and stable and that affordable housing remains available on the market.