Appreciation of U.S. homes slows

U.S. home-price appreciation slowed in the first quarter, slipping to below 1% for the first time since the second quarter of 1998, according to a report from the Washington-based Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight. Its House Price Index quarterly analysis of housing prices showed a 0.96% appreciation, nearly 3 percentage points lower than the revised 3.71% increase in the fourth quarter of 2003.

A slowdown in price growth is evidence that the real estate market isn’t in a “bubble,” in which prices outpace value and eventually fall, said Patrick Lawler, chief economist of the agency that regulates mortgage financiers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The report tracks price changes in repeat sales or refinancings of single-family properties with mortgages of up to $333,700.