FHFA: Home Prices Fell In February

04-23-2011 • thehill.com/

Home prices fell 5.7 percent since last year as foreclosures flooded the housing market and dragged down prices, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) said on Thursday. States with a large number of distressed homes on the market pushed the numbers down. The mountain region, which includes Colorado and Nevada, suffered an 11.8 percent year-over-year drop, while prices fell 8.7 percent in California and Oregon, according to the FHFA, which calculates mortgages backed by government-controlled Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. Overall, prices across the nation dropped 1.6 percent in February compared with January as all nine regions experienced declines, led by the mountain states' 3.7 percent drop in February and a 2.6 percent decrease in the Great Lakes region. The smallest decline was 0.6 percent in the South, which covers Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama. The Great Plains had a monthly decline of 0.7 percent.