FHFA contiues to put out worthless data

From The Federal Housing Finance Agency House Prices Increase Slightly in Third Quarter

U.S. house prices rose modestly in the third quarter of 2009 according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) seasonally adjusted purchase-only house price index (HPI). The HPI, calculated using home sales price information from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac-acquired mortgages, was 0.2 percent higher on a seasonally adjusted basis in the third quarter than in the second quarter of 2009. Over the past year, seasonally adjusted prices fell 3.8 percent from the third quarter of 2008 to the third quarter of 2009.

Seasonal adjustments for sales volume makes practical sense. The validity of seasonal adjustments for prices, especially in these times, is highly questionable. Homes aren’t inherently worth more or less at different times of the year.

Here is a chart showing adjusted vs unadjusted data.