News release: “U.S. house prices rose modestly in the third quarter of 2009 according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) seasonally adjusted purchase-only house price index (HPI). The HPI, calculated using home sales price information from Fannie Maeand Freddie Mac-acquired mortgages, was 0.2 percent higher on a seasonally adjusted basis in the third quarter than in the second quarter of 2009. Over the past year, seasonally adjusted prices fell 3.8 percent from the third quarter of 2008 to the third quarter of 2009. The quarterly report analyzing housing price appreciation trends was released today by FHFA Acting Director Edward J. DeMarco.”