• Monthly price increases in most regions continue to exceed 1.5%.

• Y/Y advance hits another record high.

• Mountain states continue to lead annual increases.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) House Price Index increased 1.6% in June (18.8% y/y) after rising 1.8% in May and a record 1.9% in April. The home price series dates back to January 1991.

By region, house prices remain firm throughout the country. The strongest growth was posted in the Mountain region (25.5% y/y), New England (21.8% y/y) and the Pacific region (21.5% y/y).

Close behind were price advances in the South Atlantic (18.8% y/y), Middle Atlantic (17.9% y/y), East South Central (17.5% y/y) and East North Central (17.1% y/y) regions.

Year-to-year increases were only slightly less robust in the West South Central (16.5% y/y) and West North Central (15.8% y/y) regions.

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.