First American Core Logic, a leader in residential analytics of mortgage data, released new national statistics on April 22. Using their LoanPerformance Home Price Index criteria, 36 states experienced a housing price decline over the last 3 months ending with February 2008, but only 28 states saw a year over year price decline. According to this latest press release, the Minneapolis, St. Paul, Bloomington Core Based Statistical Area experienced a 3 month decline of 4.6% and an annual decline in house prices of 8.98%. The full press release and how St. Paul compares to other CBSAs can be found here.
To confuse the public and contribute to differing opinions around the water cooler, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (Oh, man, that's a mouthful!) also published a press release on April 22. The OFHEO's monthly House Price Index is calculated from home purchases using Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac funding for their mortgages. As a result, this HPI is based on homes that cost no more than $417,000. According to OFHEO, national home prices fell 2.4% as of February, 2008. The complete press release from OFHEO is here.
If nothing else, these different stats show how important it is to know what criteria is used in collecting data. Some of the differences in the two reports are based purely in the source of each organization's statistical data. Again, knowing your local market is terribly important, because your local market could be holding strong whereas the county next door could be declining swiftly. Call your Saint Paul real estate agent (that's me!) to find out what is true for your specific neighborhood.
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