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Economy in Brief
U.S. Housing Affordability Fell Back in February, but Still in Recent Range
The NAR U.S. Fixed Rate Mortgage Housing Affordability Index decreased 7.6% (-1.4% y/y) in February to 173.1...
European New Car Registrations Remarkably Strong Yet Forgettable
Car registrations are not going to be the only statistic that bears these dual and seemingly dueling characteristics...
U.S. Retail Sales Soar in March
Total retail sales including food service and drinking establishments increased 9.8% (27.7% y/y) during March...
U.S. Industrial Production Rebounded in March
Industrial production rebounded in March, rising 1.4% m/m (+1.0% y/y)...
U.S. Home Builder Index Edges Higher in April
The NAHB-Wells Fargo Composite Housing Market Index rose 1.2% to 83 during April...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
by Tom Moeller April 23, 2019
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Price Index for house purchases rose 0.3% in February following an unrevised 0.6% January increase. The 4.9% y/y increase was the weakest since early-2015, down from a 7.6% high early in 2018.
Monthly increases in prices were strongest in the East South Central and New England regions of the country, although y/y increases were either moderately below or stable with last year.
Home price inflation decelerated sharply in the East North Central, West North Central, West South Central and Pacific regions of the country.
Declines in house prices were logged in February in both the Middle Atlantic and Mountain regions. Twelve-month price increases slowed dramatically after strengthening during all of last year.
The FHFA house price index is a weighted purchase-only index that measures average price changes in repeat sales of the same property. 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 %) |
Feb | Jan | Dec | Feb Y/Y | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 0.3 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 4.9 | 6.7 | 6.6 | 6.0 |
| New England | 1.1 | -0.6 | 0.9 | 4.3 | 5.5 | 5.8 | 4.1 |
| Middle Atlantic | -1.2 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 3.8 | 5.5 | 4.9 | 3.6 |
| East North Central | 0.6 | 1.1 | 0.5 | 5.7 | 6.5 | 6.0 | 5.3 |
| West North Central | 0.2 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 4.9 | 6.2 | 5.4 | 5.6 |
| South Atlantic | 0.4 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 5.5 | 7.2 | 6.8 | 6.9 |
| East South Central | 1.4 | 0.1 | -0.2 | 6.4 | 6.3 | 5.8 | 5.0 |
| West South Central | 0.4 | 0.8 | -0.2 | 3.5 | 5.4 | 6.5 | 5.7 |
| Mountain | -0.5 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 6.5 | 9.3 | 8.6 | 7.8 |
| Pacific | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 3.7 | 7.7 | 8.6 | 8.0 |
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