In Brief: Home Prices, CPI Rising Virtually in Tandem

Home prices have barely outpaced inflation over the past 20 years, a new report shows.

While the value of residential properties rose an average of 6% annually, the consumer price index, the chief monitor for inflation, increased by an average of 5.2% during the same period.

Home values rose in all parts of the country for the year ended Sept. 30, according to the report.

But the survey, based on data jointly kept by Fannie Mae, formally the Federal National Mortgage Association, and Freddie Mac, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp., shows the pace of growth has slowed in recent years, as recessions and lower inflation rates persisted.

For instance, residential property values increased just 3.9% through the third quarter, compared with a 2.9% rise in the consumer price index. The data is based on sale prices for 7.5 million homes, a sampling of the properties in the Fannie Mae-Freddie Mac conventional mortgage home price index.

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