Home prices posted a 19^th consecutive monthly gain in August the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) said on Wednesday.  FHFA's purchase only Home Price Index (HPI) rose 0.3 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from July but the 1.0 percent increase previously reported for July was revised down to 0.8 percent.

On a year-over-year basis the August index was up 8.5 percent.  Prices have now returned to the April 2005 index level but remain 9.4 percent below the home price peak attained in April 2007.

The index increased in seven of the nine U.S. Census Divisions in August with the South Atlantic and East North Central divisions experiencing declines.  The South Atlantic region, which encompasses all coastal states from Delaware to Florida plus West Virginia, was down 0.5 percent and the East North Central (Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio) division saw prices go down 0.3 percent.

The largest month-over-month increases were in the Mountain (Utah, Montana, Colorado, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Idaho) and West North Central (Minnesota, both Dakotas, Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri) divisions which rose 1.3 percent and 1.2 percent respectively. 

The August 2012 to August 2013 changes were largest in the Pacific Region (California, Oregon, Washington, Hawaii, and Alaska) where prices appreciated 18.2 percent and the Mountain division with a 13.8 gain.  The smallest annual increase was in the Middle Atlantic division which consists of New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania and where prices were up 4.0 percent.

The FHFA index is calculated using home sales price information from mortgages sold to or guaranteed by the government sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie May.