U.S. home prices rose a seasonally adjusted 0.7% for February, according to a Federal Housing Finance Agency report (link opens a PDF) released today. This latest news matched market expectations and represents another month of price strengthening after January's 0.6% rise.
But even with a 7.1% increase over February 2012's numbers, prices are comparable to October 2004 and late 2008.
Source: fhfa.gov
On a regional level, the Middle Atlantic (New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania) was the only area to feel a price squeeze (-0.6%) from January to February. The South Atlantic (Delaware, Maryland, D.C., Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida) improved the most, up 1.7%.
Compared with a year ago, the Pacific region's (Hawaii, Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California) home prices have led the nation with a 15.3% increase, while the Middle Atlantic continues to bring up the rear with 1.9% growth.
