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Rex Nutting, MarketWatch Last Update: 12:37 PM ET Mar 1, 2006 WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The value of the average US home increased 13% in the 12 months ending in December, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight said Wednesday. There was no evidence of a slowdown in price gains, OFHEO said. "Despite recent indications that a slowdown may be forthcoming, house-price appreciation during 2005 continued to hover at near-record levels," said OFHEO Chief Economist Patrick Lawler.
The index "showed a surprising acceleration," said David Greenlaw, an economist with Morgan Stanley. The OFHEO home-price index is considered the best gauge of housing prices, because it compares prices of the same houses sold or refinanced over time. The details of the OFHEO report show a country with two housing markets. The Mountain states edged out the Pacific states as the region with the largest gains, with price increases in six of the region's eight states exceeding the national average, OFHEO said. The details of the report show a country with two housing markets. On the coasts and in growing areas of the West and South, prices were soaring. But prices were nearly flat in the middle and northern tiers. Five states and the District of Columbia saw home prices rise more than 20%: Arizona, Florida, Hawaii, the District, Maryland and California. Five states saw price increases of less than 5%: Michigan, Ohio, Nebraska, Indiana and Kansas. Michigan continued to record the lowest price gains at 38% year-over-year For the first time since 2003, home prices in one metro area -- Burlington, NC -- fell on a year-over-year basis. Home prices in Cleveland rose 31%, followed by Dallas with 37%, Houston at 44% and Indianapolis at 45%. End of Story Rex Nutting is Washington bureau chief of MarketWatch.
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