Global| Jul 25 2017U.S. FHFA House Price Inflation Remains Firm
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
The Federal Housing Finance Agency's (FHFA) index of U.S. house prices rose 7.5% (AR) during the last three months, compared to a 6.2% gain during all of last year. In May, prices rose 0.4% (6.9% y/y) following a 0.6% April gain, [...]
The Federal Housing Finance Agency's (FHFA) index of U.S. house prices rose 7.5% (AR) during the last three months, compared to a 6.2% gain during all of last year. In May, prices rose 0.4% (6.9% y/y) following a 0.6% April gain, revised from 0.7%.
The performance of home prices continued to vary greatly around the country. On the strong side was the Pacific region where prices rose 8.7% y/y. That was followed by the Mountain states with a 7.7% y/y increase. The South Atlantic and West South Central regions also posted 7.7% y/y home price inflation.
Showing slightly slower rates of increase were states in the East North Central and New England regions where prices rose 6.3% y/y. Prices in the West North Central region improved 5.7% y/y, while in the East South Central region prices increased 5.5% y/y.
The slowest house price inflation occurred amongst states in Middle Atlantic region where prices rose 4.0% y/y. The rate of gain during the last three months declined to 3.0% from 11.4% in the prior three months.
The FHFA house price index is a weighted repeat sales index, measuring 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 %) |
May | Apr | Mar | May Y/Y | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 0.4 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 6.9 | 6.2 | 5.6 | 5.4 |
| Pacific | 0.8 | 0.5 | 1.6 | 8.7 | 8.1 | 8.0 | 9.4 |
| Mountain | -0.2 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 7.7 | 8.0 | 7.9 | 7.2 |
| South Atlantic | 0.5 | 1.1 | 1.2 | 7.7 | 7.2 | 6.5 | 5.8 |
| West South Central | 1.0 | 1.5 | 0.1 | 7.7 | 6.1 | 6.4 | 5.6 |
| East North Central | 0.2 | -0.0 | 1.3 | 6.3 | 5.4 | 4.5 | 4.5 |
| New England | -0.0 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 6.3 | 4.0 | 3.6 | 3.1 |
| West North Central | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.7 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 4.3 | 4.1 |
| East South Central | 0.8 | -0.3 | -0.3 | 5.5 | 5.3 | 4.8 | 3.5 |
| Middle Atlantic | -0.5 | 0.6 | 0.0 | 4.0 | 3.6 | 2.7 | 2.2 |
|
Mountain: Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Nevada, Utah,
Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico. |
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.
