House prices continue to edge upward

House prices in the U.S., as measured by the Federal Housing Finance Agency's (FHFA) monthly House Price Index (HPI) rose in May. The 0.4% advance, on a seasonally adjusted basis, equals the increase posted in April, which was revised upward from 0.3%.

On a year-over-year basis, prices were up 5.7% in May. But even with those increases, the index is 1.8% below its March 2007 peak and is roughly the same as the April 2006 index level.

For the 9 census divisions, seasonally adjusted monthly price changes from April 2015 to May 2015 ranged from -0.6% in the East South Central division to +1.1% in the East North Central division.

The 12-month changes were all positive, ranging from +0.9% in the Middle Atlantic division to +8.4% in the Pacific division.

The FHFA HPI is calculated using home sales price information from mortgages sold to or

guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The complete report is available in the FHFA website.