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Economy in Brief
U.S. Energy Product Prices Are Mixed
Natural gas prices increased 13.6% (-3.6% y/y) to $2.17/mmbtu in the week ended October 16...
German Inflation Is Still Falling But Show Signs of Stirring
German PPI trends continue to be weak and show prices declines when expressed as y/y changes...
U.S. Home Builder Sentiment Logs Another Record High
The Composite Housing Market Index from the NAHB-Wells Fargo increased 2.4% to a record 85 during October...
Japan's Trade Surplus Grows
Japan has a string of three-monthly surpluses in a row...
U.S. Government Budget Deficit Surged in FY 2020
Budget gap totals $3.132 trillion...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
by Tom Moeller July 24, 2018
The Federal Housing Finance Agency's (FHFA) index of U.S. house prices during May increased 0.2% (6.4% y/y), the same as in April which was revised from 0.1%. Over the past three months, prices have risen at a 2.5% annual rate, the weakest rate of growth since 2012.
Around the country, monthly home price depreciation occurred during May in the East North Central (+5.8% y/y) and the Middle Atlantic (+5.0% y/y) regions.
Over the last year, home price appreciation in the Mountain (9.1% y/y) and Pacific (7.6% y/y) regions exhibited the strongest rates of growth.
Growth rates in the South Atlantic (7.2% y/y) and New England (5.7% y/y) regions of the country were more moderate.
Weaker rates of home price increase were observed in the Middle Atlantic (5.0% y/y) and West South Central (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 %) |
May | Apr | Mar | May Y/Y | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 6.4 | 6.7 | 6.1 | 5.4 |
| Mountain | 0.3 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 9.1 | 8.8 | 7.9 | 7.7 |
| Pacific | 0.2 | 0.1 | -0.3 | 7.6 | 8.8 | 8.1 | 7.8 |
| South Atlantic | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 7.2 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 6.2 |
| East South Central | 1.5 | 0.3 | -0.4 | 7.1 | 5.9 | 5.1 | 4.6 |
| East North Central | -0.5 | 0.7 | -0.1 | 5.8 | 6.1 | 5.4 | 4.4 |
| New England | 0.3 | 0.6 | -0.8 | 5.7 | 5.9 | 4.1 | 3.3 |
| West North Central | 0.2 | -0.0 | 0.7 | 5.4 | 5.5 | 5.6 | 4.1 |
| Middle Atlantic | -0.2 | -0.8 | 1.5 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 3.7 | 2.6 |
| West South Central | 0.4 | -0.0 | -0.3 | 4.9 | 6.6 | 6.0 | 6.2 |
|
