The U.S. House Price Index from the Federal Housing and Finance Agency (FHFA) rose 0.7% during June following a 0.6% May increase, last month reported as 0.8%. It was the fifth consecutive monthly gain. The 3.6% y/y increase was its strongest since 2006, and followed four successive years of price decline. Despite the improvement, prices remained 15.3% below the 2007 average.

Home price appreciation was broad-based in the U.S. but most notable in the Mountain states (11.1% y/y). However, the increase here followed declines larger than most in the country. The gain was followed by the Pacific (5.3% y/y) and the West North Central (4.2% y/y) states. Home prices have yet to increase in the New England (-0.4% y/y) and the Middle Atlantic (-0.4% y/y) regions.

The FHFA house price index is a weighted repeat sales index. It measures average price changes in repeat sales or refinancings on the same properties. It is based on transactions involving conforming, conventional mortgages purchased or securitized by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. Only mortgage transactions on single family properties are included. The FHFA data is available in Haver's USECON database.