US Home Prices Up Nationally In 2Q On Low Mtge Rates -Freddie

   DOW JONES NEWSWIRES 
 

U.S. home prices gained 1.7% in the second quarter from the first quarter, according to Freddie Mac (FRE), as every region posted sequential increases for the first time in two years.

Freddie Mac cited historically low mortgage rates as a catalyst for bring buyers into the market. The closely followed S&P Case-Shiller index released last week showed a rise, in the second quarter, for the first time in three years.

On an annualized basis, the increase in Freddie's Conventional Mortgage Home Price Index, which excludes all refinancings, was 7%. The latest quarter's gains helped shrink the average price decline during the past four quarters to 6.7%.

Freddie chief economist Frank Nothaft said the quarter-to-quarter increase was also due to seasonal buying, as sales are generally stronger in the spring.

Sequentially, the nation was led by a 3.2% gain in the Pacific coast region plus Hawaii and Alaska, although homes in that region by far had the farthest to rise, having dropped 16% in the last 12 months. California markets were among the fastest rising before the housing bubble burst.

The laggard was New England with a 0.5% increase from the first quarter. However, prices there have fallen just 3.2% in the past four quarters.

-By Joan E. Solsman, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2291; [e-mail]