Global| Apr 24 2018U.S. FHFA House Price Index Continues to Strengthen
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
The Federal Housing Finance Agency's (FHFA) index of U.S. house prices rose 0.6% during February following January's 0.9% advance, revised from 0.8%. The 7.2% y/y rate of increase was nearly the quickest since 2013, up from 5.2% in [...]
The Federal Housing Finance Agency's (FHFA) index of U.S. house prices rose 0.6% during February following January's 0.9% advance, revised from 0.8%. The 7.2% y/y rate of increase was nearly the quickest since 2013, up from 5.2% in 2014. Over the past three months, prices have risen at an 8.0% annual rate, up from 4.4% as of July.
Around the country, prices in the Pacific (10.3%) and Mountain (9.0% y/y) regions showed the strongest rates of growth.
Slightly slower growth rates were exhibited within the South Atlantic (7.5% y/y), East North Central (6.8% y/y) and West South Central (6.4% y/y) regions of the country.
Home price appreciation in the East South Central, New England and West North Central Regions approximated 6.0% y/y, with prices in the Middle Atlantic region up a lesser 4.8% y/y.
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 %) |
Feb | Jan | Dec | Feb Y/Y | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 0.6 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 7.2 | 6.8 | 6.2 | 5.5 |
| Pacific | 1.0 | 1.4 | 0.6 | 10.3 | 8.8 | 8.1 | 7.8 |
| Mountain | 0.2 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 9.0 | 8.8 | 8.0 | 7.7 |
| South Atlantic | 0.4 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 7.5 | 7.0 | 7.1 | 6.3 |
| East North Central | 0.4 | 1.4 | 0.5 | 6.8 | 6.1 | 5.4 | 4.4 |
| West South Central | 1.2 | -0.2 | 0.3 | 6.4 | 6.6 | 6.0 | 6.2 |
| East South Central | 1.6 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 6.2 | 6.0 | 5.1 | 4.7 |
| New England | 0.8 | 0.5 | 1.1 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 4.1 | 3.4 |
| West North Central | 0.1 | 1.1 | -0.4 | 5.8 | 5.5 | 5.6 | 4.1 |
| Middle Atlantic | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 4.8 | 4.9 | 3.7 | 2.6 |
Mountain: Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Nevada, Utah,
Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico.
South Atlantic: Delaware, Maryland, D.C., Virginia, West Virginia,
North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida.
Pacific: Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington.
West South Central: Oklahoma, Arkansas, Texas and Louisiana.
East North Central: Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio.
East South Central: Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama.
New England: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode
Island and Connecticut.
Middle Atlantic: New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
West North Central: North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska,
Iowa, Kansas and Missouri.
Tom Moeller
AuthorMore in Author Profile »Prior to joining Haver Analytics in 2000, Mr. Moeller worked as the Economist at Chancellor Capital Management from 1985 to 1999. There, he developed comprehensive economic forecasts and interpreted economic data for equity and fixed income portfolio managers. Also at Chancellor, Mr. Moeller worked as an equity analyst and was responsible for researching and rating companies in the economically sensitive automobile and housing industries for investment in Chancellor’s equity portfolio. Prior to joining Chancellor, Mr. Moeller was an Economist at Citibank from 1979 to 1984. He also analyzed pricing behavior in the metals industry for the Council on Wage and Price Stability in Washington, D.C. In 1999, Mr. Moeller received the award for most accurate forecast from the Forecasters' Club of New York. From 1990 to 1992 he was President of the New York Association for Business Economists. Mr. Moeller earned an M.B.A. in Finance from Fordham University, where he graduated in 1987. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from George Washington University.
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