OFHEO also tracks only those loans purchased by Fannie and Freddie, which cuts out mortgages of more than $417,000 and almost all - if not all - subprime loans.
As a result, the homes in agency's index are probably more modestly priced than in other measurements, Chen said.
"There's just more stability in these types of homes," she said. "The prices aren't falling as quickly."
Consider metropolitan Washington, which has a lot of expensive homes.
Drops nearly 3%
Prices there dropped nearly 3 percent year-over-year, according to OFHEO's measurement. But the Standard & Poor's Case-Shiller index, also out yesterday, shows a decline of more than 9 percent from December 2006 to December 2007.
Case-Shiller does not track Baltimore.
Chen said Moody's Economy.com expects the second half of the year will bring a bottoming out in home sales but not prices.
The company predicts price declines of about 20 percent nationally and in the Baltimore area, when all is said and done.
"That housing market is not one of the most endangered," Chen said of the Baltimore metro area, "but it certainly is a market where we do see some correction."
jamie.smith.hopkins@baltsun.com
Gainers, losers
Here's how Baltimore and Washington ranked among 291 metro areas, as well as the top and bottom five, in terms of percentage change in home price in the fourth quarter of 2007 versus a year earlier:
1. Wenatchee, Wash. 13.7%
2. Houma-Bayou Cane- Thibodaux, La. 12.2%
3. Grand Junction, Colo. 12%
4. Ogden-Clearfield, Utah 10.8%
5. Bismarck, N.D.10.7%
134. Baltimore 2% --
237. Washington -2.9% --
287. Punta Gorda, Fla. -13.3%
288. Port St. Lucie, Fla. -14.5%
289. Stockton, Calif. -15.3%
290. Modesto, Calif. -15.5%
291. Merced, Calif. -19%
[Source: Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight index of repeat sales and refinance transactions
