Home prices increased by 0.2 percent from June to July
according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency's (FHFA's) House Price Index
(HPI). The previously reported May to
June gain was unchanged at 0.1 percent.
Analysts expected a more aggressive increase. Those
polled by Econoday had reported a consensus of 0.4 percent, with a range of 0.1
to 0.5.
The FHFA's index is constructed using home sales price
information from purchase mortgages sold to or guaranteed by the government
sponsored enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The year-over-year appreciation in the July HPI
was 6.3 percent compared to 6.5 percent in June.