Recent Updates
- Japan: TSE Tokyo PRO Market (Aug)
- Vietnam: First 15 Days of Trade (SEP)
- Finland: Government Finance (Aug)
- US: Home Builders (Sep)
- BIS: Debt Service Ratios, Credit to the Nonfinancial Sector (Q1)
- more updates...
Economy in Brief
German PPI Surges to Largest Gain Since Early '70S Oil Shock
Germany's headline PPI surged 1.6% m/m in August...
FIBER: Industrial Commodity Prices Improve
The FIBER Industrial Materials Price Index rose 1.4% during the four weeks ended September 17...
EMU and Other Central Banks: The Inflation Conundrum
Inflation in the EMU has flared and was last higher in September 2008...
U.S. Retail Sales Improve in August
Total retail sales including food service and drinking establishments increased 0.7% (15.1% y/y) during August...
U.S. Business Inventories and Sales Rise in Tandem in July
Total business inventories increased 0.5% (7.2% y/y) during July...
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 |
|
