First Quarter Home Prices Up

NEW YORK ?EUR??,,????'??+ U.S. average home prices rose 7.71 percent during the first three months of 2004 from the same period last year, according to the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight. The pace of home appreciation slowed considerably from the fourth quarter of 2003, which posted an upwardly revised 8.13 percent year-on-year increase, OFHEO said Tuesday. ?EUR??,,????'??This moderation in growth of house prices is welcome because continued price jumps like those of the fourth quarter last year would raise the potential for declines later on,?EUR??,,????'?? Patrick Lawler, OFHEO's chief economist said. The quarterly appreciation is nearly three percentage points lower then the revised 3.71 percent increase in the fourth quarter 2003. While the first quarter rate may be revised next quarter, it is the first quarterly appreciation rate below one percent since the second quarter of 1998, according to an OFHEO statement. Home prices in Hawaii, Nevada, Rhode Island, the District of Columbia and California increased the most during the past 12 months. The smallest increases were in Utah, Texas, Indiana, Colorado and Alabama, OFHEO said. For the first quarter, average home values in five states, Vermont, Alaska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa and Nebraska, fell from fourth-quarter levels. In the fourth quarter, no states experienced price decreases from the third-quarter 2003, it said.