by Calculated Risk on 4/21/2011 12:28:00 PM

The most followed house price indexes are Case-Shiller and CoreLogic - and also the FHFA index based on repeat sales of homes with loans sold to or guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.

The FHFA reported this morning: U.S. Monthly House Price Index Declined 1.6 Percent from January to February

U.S. house prices declined 1.6 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from January to February, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s monthly House Price Index. The previously reported 0.3 percent decrease in January was revised to a 1.0 percent decrease. For the 12 months ending in February, U.S. prices fell 5.7 percent. The U.S. index is 18.6 percent below its April 2007 peak and roughly the same as the February 2004 index level.

There are several other house price indexes that I follow: RadarLogic (based on a house price per square foot method, to be released this afternoon for February), FNC Residential Price Index (a hedonic price index), Clear Capital and more.

I'm planning on mentioning these other indexes, in addition to Case-Shiller and CoreLogic, and discussing some of the differences.

From FNC this morning: February Single-Family Home Prices Decline 0.7 Percent

FNC announced Thursday that U.S. home prices weakened only slightly in February—a better-than-expected price seasonality.

Based on the latest data on non-distressed home sales (existing and new homes), FNC’s Residential Price Index™ (RPI) indicated that home prices in February declined 0.7% from January, or 5.3% from a year ago.

Contrary to expectations of relatively rapid price deteriorations, February delivered instead the slowest one-month price declines since November. Even so, the trend shows that weak housing demand and spillovers from rising distressed sales continue to affect the mortgage market.

FNC’s RPI – the industry’s first hedonic price index built on a comprehensive database blending public records with real-time appraisals – also showed home prices nationwide are currently 1.9% below the end of 2010 and comparable to May 2003 on a cyclical basis.

According to FNC, house prices are at a post-bubble low, and are back to May 2003 prices. You can see the FNC composite index, and prices for 30 cities here.

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