Home Values Nationwide Up 13% in 4th Quarter

The average U.S. house continued to gain value through the end of 2005, posting a fourth-quarter increase of nearly 13 percent from the fourth quarter of 2004, according to a government report released this week.

In the home price survey by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, all but one of 275 metropolitan housing markets showed improved value, many at record rates of increase. In the market that was an exception, Burlington, N.C., prices fell 1 percent over the year.

However, two reports this week showed slower sales of new and existing homes. The report on sales of previously owned homes, released by the National Association of Realtors, showed sales down for the fifth straight month.