by Calculated Risk on 8/08/2005 06:53:00 PM

From a story on CBS MarketWatch by Rex Nutting (always informative): U.S. house prices soar 16.5% in Q2

U.S. housing prices reaccelerated in the second quarter, mortgage giant Fannie Mae said Monday.

This is really no surprise; housing was clearly very strong in Q2. If there is a slowdown it has started in the last month with rising inventories. Apparently Fannie Mae chief economist David Berson believes housing is still strong:

Recent data on home sales, mortgage applications and homebuilder attitudes "show no slowdown in the housing market," said Fannie Mae chief economist David Berson.

Berson is a straight shooter, and he is certainly correct on existing and new home sales and homebuilder attitudes. I think there has been some weakness in mortgage applications. But all of this data (except mortgage applications) is backwards looking.

I'm looking forward to the Q2 data from OFHEO:

OFHEO will release its comprehensive housing price index for the second quarter on Sept. 1, including data from both Fannie and Freddie Mac. The data are based on comparing purchase prices for the same home over time.

Hat tip to Fred C. Dobbs in the comments!