Consumers grappling with changes in today's housing market need information that is as current and as relevant as possible.

That's especially true when it comes to home prices.

In a rising or falling market, data that is more than a month or two old is too stale to satisfy the appetites of buyers and sellers hungry for the most current prices.

The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) is beginning to get the message.

It recently added a more current monthly report to its existing quarterly Home Price Index and the difference is quickly apparent.

OFHEO's last quarterly report, the fourth quarter of 2007, revealed home prices nationwide dropped 1.3 percent during the previous year.

OFHEO's first new monthly Home Price Index reveals home prices were down 2.4 percent in February, compared to 12 months earlier.

The new monthly report still lags by about two months, but it's available more frequently. The OFHEO's quarterly report, on the other hand, contains some data that's nearly five months old.

Prices should also reflect the local market, where you actually buy and sell homes.

OFHEO's new monthly report zeros in only on a regional level. The quarterly report gives some city level data, but it lags far too much to be home buying- or home selling-friendly.

The S&P/Case-Shiller 10-City Composite offers a closer look. It reveals home prices have dropped 13.6 percent in the past year ending in February. It's broader 20-City composite reveals a 12.7 percent annual decline.

For the most accurate, current home prices, whenever possible, make sure your home price data is as frequent as possible and focused as much as possible on your city or neighborhood. That means checking with your local real estate agent for the numbers.

Published: May 13, 2008

Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.

Broderick Perkins parlayed a career in old-school journalism into a contemporary digital news service that really hits home. The award-winning consumer journalist, originally from Wilmington, DE, is founder, publisher and executive editor of the bootstrap DeadlineNews Group, a Silicon Valley-based editorial content and consulting service specializing in residential real estate, consumer news and related editorial consulting services. The DeadlineNews Group includes the website, DeadlineNews.com, offering real estate editorial content and consulting services, and its back shop, the Deadline Newsroom, an open house on news that really hits home. Perkins obtained his formal journalism education from University of Delaware and a journalism boot camp, the Institute of Journalism Education at the University of California-Berkeley. He went on to 20 years of service as a daily newspaper journalist at the Wilmington, DE News Journal and San Jose, CA Mercury News. Perkins covered housing on the San Jose Mercury News reporting team which earned a General News Reporting Pulitzer Prize in 1989 for coverage of the Loma Prieta earthquake. He has also produced real estate, consumer and small business content for the Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, RealtyTimes.com, Nolo.com, Better Homes and Gardens, the National Association of Realtors, Homestore/Move and Intuit/Quicken among more than three dozen publications. In addition to managing the DeadlineNews Group, Perkins most recently served as chief editorial consultant for Nolo's Essential Guide To Buying Your First Home, Nolo, and writes real estate television scripts for RealtyTimes.com.