From RealTrends.com: Average prices paid for homes purchased in the second quarter with mortgages bought by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac rose 1.7 percent from the previous quarter and for the first time in two years, prices rose in all nine regions Freddie Mac monitors.
The biggest quarter-over-quarter gains were in the Pacific region, which includes hard-hit California, indicating even the weakest housing markets are showing signs of recovery. “The pickup in home prices growth rates is consistent with other housing market indicators that show home sales and single-family construction up in the second quarter,” says Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) Chief Economist Frank Nothaft. “The Spring is generally the strongest buying season each year, and we normally see home price growth respond similarly [and] this year was no exception.”
Freddie Mac’s quarterly report measures only conforming mortgages and excludes refinancing transactions.
Source: Washington Business Journal, Jeff Clabaugh