The y/y rate of advance in the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Price Index for house purchases showed signs of stabilizing in April. The y/y pace had slowed in each month since last June, but in April it picked up (albeit only slightly) to 5.22% y/y from 5.13% in March and 5.16% in February. In the month of April, the index increased 0.4% m/m versus 0.2% in March. Still, the pace of the annual increase pales in comparison to the recent high of 7.6% y/y reached in January 2018. Over the past six months, nationwide house prices have increased 5.0% at an annual rate.

For the nine census division, the seasonally adjusted monthly change in house prices in April ranged from -0.6% m/m in West North Central region to +1.2% m/m in the Mountain region. House prices in April also declined in the Middle Atlantic region (-0.1% m/m). Prices rose in the other seven regions, with the 1.1% m/m rise in prices in the East South Central region coming in a close second to the jump in the Mountain region.

House prices in April were higher than a year ago in each region, led by a 7.8% y/y advance in the Mountain region. Prices in the Middle Atlantic region posted the most modest annual increase, rising 4.0% over the past year.

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 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.