UPDATE 1-US end-Sept consumer sentiment same as Aug -U.Mich

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NEW YORK, Sept 28 (Reuters) - U.S. consumer sentiment was unchanged in late September from August as shifts in outlook among different age, economic and geographic groups across the country offset each other, a survey showed on Friday.

The Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers said its final September figure on consumer sentiment was 83.4, below a median forecast of 84.0 and the preliminary Sept reading of 83.8 but unchanged from the final August figure.

The Reuters/University of Michigan consumer index read 85.4 in September 2006.

Consumer sentiment has been seen as a proxy on future consumer spending, which accounts for two-thirds of the U.S. economy.

"Consumers quickly tempered their reactions to the crisis in financial markets, avoiding a freefall in confidence, but have become more concerned with slumping house prices," the report said.

The data indicates that without a new shock to the economy, the pace of growth in real personal consumption can be expected to slow, to average about 2 percent over the next four quarters with some weaker quarters around the turn of the year, the report said.

Yet, while the probability of a recession has risen, it is still well below 50 percent, the report said.

The survey's gauge of current consumer conditions was 97.9 in late September, below the preliminary September reading of 98.3 and a final August reading of 98.4. The current reading is the lowest since Sept 2006.

The final September figure on consumer expectations was 74.1, below the early September figure of 74.4 but above the final August reading of 73.7.

More consumers anticipated interest rate declines, even before the Federal Reserve's recent half-percentage-point rate cut, than at any time since just before the last round of cuts by the U.S. central bank that started in January 2001. The first five cuts in the first five months of 2001 were each a half point. A recession lasted from March to Nov 2001.

One in four homeowners reported the value of their home had declined during the past year, and one in five anticipated declines in the value of their home during the year ahead.

Nonetheless, the August-September level of the sentiment index has been nearly identical, ranging from 83.0 to 83.7, despite concerns about slumping house prices adding to concerns about food and fuel prices.

Consumers' final view of current personal finances rose to 109 in September from 103 in August and up from the preliminary reading of 105. The index of their expectations for personal finances came in at 119, up from the preliminary posting of 118 but below the final August number of 120.

The survey's one-year inflation index was unchanged from early September at 3.1, down from 3.2 in August and the lowest since March. The five-to-10-year inflation index, slipped to 2.9 from the early September reading of 3.0, and is now unchanged from August.