U.S. FHFA House Price Appreciation Picks Up

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Price Index increased 0.6% in September, following an unrevised 0.2% August increase. During the last twelve months, home prices improved 5.1%, a deceleration from last year's 6.7% full-year rise. Recent growth was down from a 7.4% peak early in 2018. During the last six months, prices increased at a 4.6% annual rate.

Home price movement varied greatly during September. It was strongest in the East South Central region where prices strengthened 1.9% (6.4% y/y) and the South Atlantic states where prices improved 1.3% (5.6% y/y).

Moderate price improvement was seen in the Middle Atlantic region where prices rose 0.6% (4.5% y/y) and the West North Central region where they also rose 0.6% (5.5% y/y). In the Mountain region home prices rose 0.5% (5.9% y/y).

Home prices in the East North Central area rose 0.3% (4.9% y/y) and they increased 0.2% (4.3% y/y) in the West South Central Region. Home price gains were weakest in New England (4.6% y/y) and the Pacific (4.4% y/y) regions where they improved 0.1% for the month.

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.

FHFA U.S. House Price Index, Purchase Only (SA %)	Sep	Aug	Jul	Sep Y/Y	2018	2017	2016
Total	0.6	0.2	0.4	5.1	6.7	6.5	6.0
New England	0.1	1.0	0.7	4.6	5.4	5.8	4.1
Middle Atlantic	0.6	0.3	0.3	4.5	5.5	4.8	3.6
East North Central	0.3	0.4	0.6	4.9	6.5	6.0	5.2
West North Central	0.6	0.7	0.2	5.5	6.2	5.3	5.5
South Atlantic	1.3	0.1	0.2	5.6	7.3	6.7	6.8
East South Central	1.9	-0.6	0.2	6.4	6.2	5.7	5.0
West South Central	0.2	0.2	0.1	4.3	5.4	6.3	5.6
Mountain	0.5	0.1	1.2	5.9	9.2	8.6	7.8
Pacific	0.1	0.0	0.5	4.4	7.5	8.6	8.0

 

New England: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut.
Middle Atlantic: New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
5East North Central: Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio.
West North Central: North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas and Missouri.
South Atlantic: Delaware, Maryland, D.C., Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida.
East South Central: Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama.
West South Central: Oklahoma, Arkansas, Texas and Louisiana.
Mountain: Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico.
Pacific: Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington.