There are so many different agencies and organizations that measure housing activity in different ways that sometimes it is hard to see what is really happening in the marketplace. Take for instance the report from the Federal Housing Finance Authority that reports housing prices were up 1.7% in January 2009 compared with December 2008. This was the first monthly increase in over a year. The FHFA index measures the entire country and is largely based on information provided by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The Case Shiller index shows different numbers because they cover more concentrated geographical areas versus the nation as a whole. FHFA shows home prices are down 6.3% for the past year and a 9.6% decline from the peak in April 2006. Case-Shiller on the other hand shows a 18.6% decline from last year and a 27% drop from the peak. Case-Shiller numbers for January will be released next Tuesday. How does this effect Denver CO real estate??? That depends on what indices you track….they all show different how your money stacks up.

Filed under: Denver Real Estate News