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Economy in Brief
U.S. Existing Home Sales Increase in October--the First in Seven Months
The NAR reported that sales of existing homes in October increased 1.4% m/m to 5.220 million units (SAAR)...
U.S. Durable Goods Orders Decline, Led by Aircraft
Weakness in the durable goods manufacturing sector was evident last month as new orders declined 4.4% (+6.7% y/y)...
U.S. Initial Unemployment Claims Rise, Reach Highest Since June
Initial claims for unemployment insurance rose 3,000 in the week ended November 17 to 224,000 (-6.3% y/y)...
U.S. Housing Starts Increase
Total housing starts rose 1.5% (-2.9% y/y) during October to 1.228 million units (AR)...
Philadelphia Fed Nonmanufacturing Business Activity Rebounds
The Philadelphia Fed reported that its Nonmanufacturing Business Index of current conditions at the company level increased to 42.4 during November...
by Tom Moeller June 21, 2018
The Federal Housing Finance Agency's (FHFA) index of U.S. house prices nudged 0.1% higher (6.4% y/y) during April after a 0.2% March rise, revised from 0.1%. Over the past three months, prices have risen at a 4.7% annual rate, down from a 9.1% rate as of February.
Around the country, monthly home price depreciation occurred during April in the West South Central (+6.0% y/y) and the Middle Atlantic (+4.9% y/y) regions.
Versus last year, home prices in the Mountain (8.9% y/y) and Pacific (8.3% y/y) regions exhibited the strongest rates of growth.
Moderated annual growth rates were realized in the South Atlantic (6.6% y/y) and West North Central (6.0% y/y) regions of the country.
Weaker rates of home price increase were found in the East South Central (5.6% y/y) and New England (4.9% y/y) regions of the country.
The FHFA house price index is a weighted purchase-only index that measures average price changes in repeat sales of the same property. An associated quarterly index also includes refinancings on the same kinds of properties. The indexes are 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 are available in Haver's USECON database.
| FHFA U.S. House Price Index, Purchase Only (SA %) |
Apr | Mar | Feb | Apr Y/Y | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.8 | 6.4 | 6.7 | 6.1 | 5.4 |
| Mountain | 0.4 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 8.9 | 8.8 | 7.9 | 7.7 |
| Pacific | 0.1 | -0.3 | 1.4 | 8.3 | 8.8 | 8.1 | 7.8 |
| East North Central | 0.6 | -0.1 | 0.7 | 6.6 | 6.1 | 5.4 | 4.4 |
| South Atlantic | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 6.5 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 6.2 |
| West South Central | -0.5 | -0.2 | 1.6 | 6.0 | 6.6 | 6.0 | 6.2 |
| West North Central | 0.6 | -0.1 | 0.7 | 6.0 | 5.5 | 5.6 | 4.1 |
| East South Central | 0.4 | -0.4 | 1.0 | 5.6 | 5.9 | 5.1 | 4.6 |
| Middle Atlantic | -0.4 | 1.2 | 0.1 | 4.9 | 5.0 | 3.7 | 2.6 |
| New England | 0.5 | -0.8 | 1.0 | 4.9 | 5.9 | 4.1 | 3.3 |
|
