Washington, DC – The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced U.S. house prices were 0.6 percent lower in the second quarter than in the first quarter of 2011, per the house price index (HPI). The HPI is calculated using home sales price information from Fannie Mae- and Freddie Mac-acquired mortgages.
Not exactly what homeowners and those of us in the real estate biz are looking to hear. Is this price slide a double dip? Seems we're hearing the term used more often, unofficially. Probably not so much a double-dip, as it is a double-whammy.
Home prices have been hit from both the supply-side and the demand-side. Supply is over-stocked with foreclosure inventory. And the demand-side is hurt by high unemployment, mortgages being harder to get and consumer confidence being low. There's no question that housing recovery in this market remains a slow process.
The FHFA went on to say, "Over the past four quarters, seasonally adjusted prices fell 5.9 percent. The quarterly decrease came despite an increase in FHFA’s seasonally adjusted monthly house price index for June of 0.9 percent. The June HPI was 18.8 percent below its April 2007 peak."
Not exactly what homeowners and those of us in the real estate biz are looking to hear. Is this price slide a double dip? Seems we're hearing the term used more often, unofficially. Probably not so much a double-dip, as it is a double-whammy.
Home prices have been hit from both the supply-side and the demand-side. Supply is over-stocked with foreclosure inventory. And the demand-side is hurt by high unemployment, mortgages being harder to get and consumer confidence being low. There's no question that housing recovery in this market remains a slow process.
