T, you've been told many many times there is NO inflation, when will you learn? -g-
<<WASHINGTON, Sept 1 (Reuters) - U.S. home values rose slightly during the busy April-June buying season to an annualized rate of 4.1 percent, one of of the nation's biggest buyers of home mortgages said Tuesday. Freddie Mac, which buys mortgages and packages them into securities for investors, said the Conventional Mortgage Home-Price Index showed home values nationwide were about 1 percent higher in the second quarter than in the first three months of the year, bringing the annualize rate of increase to 4.1 percent. The index also showed home values were about 5.3 percent higher in the second quarter of 1998 than in the second quarter of 1997.
Freddie Mac economist Amy Crews Cutts said that income gains and low unemployment have encouraged many renters to become home owners and many current homeowners to move into better houses. ''Housing is viewed as a long-term asset,'' she said, adding that given recent fluctuations in the stock market housing ''is looking like a nice asset to be in.''
Home values in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin, the East North Central part of the country, rose the most, Freddie Mac said.
Values in that region rose 1.7 percent in the second quarter from the first, bringing the annual rate of increase to 7 percent. For the past 12 months, home values in the region rose 4.9 percent and were up 32.2 percent from five years ago.
The home price index was developed by both Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, the largest buyer of home mortgages, and is based on actual sales prices and appraised values by mortgage lenders.
Freddie Mac gave the following additional regional breakdown for its Conventional Mortgage Home-Price Index.
-- East South Central Division (Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi and Tennessee), values up 1.6 percent in the second quarter, or 6.4 percent at an annualized rate. In the last 12 months, home values rose 6.2 percent, and rose 29.6 percent over the last five years.
-- Pacific Division (Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington), values rose 1.2 percent in the second quarter, or an annualized rate of 4.8 percent. Values were 6.3 percent higher than a year ago and 8.9 percent higher than five years ago.
-- New England Division (Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont) values rose 1.1 percent in the second quarter, an annualized rate of 4.6 percent. Values were 5.8 percent higher than a year ago and 13.7 percent higher than five years ago.
-- West North Central Division (Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Nebraska and South Dakota) values rose 1.1 percent in the second quarter, an annualized rate of 4.5 percent. Values were 4.8 percent higher than a year ago and 29.3 percent higher than five years ago.
-- Mountain Division (Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming), values rose 0.7 percent in the second quarter, a 2.8 percent annualized rate. Values were 4.4 percent higher than a year ago and 38.4 percent higher than five years ago.
-- Middle Atlantic Division (Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York) values rose 0.6 percent in the second quarter, a 2.4 percent annualized rate. Values were 4.9 percent higher than a year ago and 9.8 percent higher than five years ago.
-- South Atlantic Division (District of Columbia, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia) values rose 0.5 percent in the second quarter, a 2 percent annualized rate. Values were 5.7 percent than a year ago and 19.3 percent higher than five years ago.
-- West South Central Division (Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas) values rose 0.2 percent in the second quarter, a 1 percent annualized rate. Values were 5 percent higher than a year ago and 18.4 percent higher than five years ago. >> |
