Home Price Appreciation Slowing

Washington, DC, September 5, 2006–Home prices were appreciating at a 4.7% annual rate in the second quarter, the slowest gains since 1999, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight said Tuesday.

In the past year, home prices are up 10.1%.

The purchase-only index is up 8.3% in the past year. The deceleration in OHFHEO’s home price index is the fastest in the three-decade history of the index.

“These data are a strong indication that the housing market is cooling in a very significant way,” said James Lockhart, OFHEO director. In the first quarter, home prices had risen at an 8.8% annualized rate, with prices up 12.8% year-over-year.