Home Prices Edged up in January

Home Prices Edged up in January
Home prices rose 1.7 percent in January, up for the first time in 10 months, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which only reports prices for conforming properties with mortgages backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Many analysts were skeptical about the results because the report excludes expensive homes with subprime loans and jumbo mortgages.

The government did note that sales numbers in January were low and that could skew the results.

Meanwhile, the Commerce Department is expected to report today that new home sales fell in February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 300,000 units from 309,000 units in January. This is the lowest level since 1963.

Source: The Wall Street Journal, Kelly Evans and the Associated Press (03/25/2009)