The U.S. House Price Index from the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) increased 0.4% during May (5.7% y/y) following a 0.4% April gain, revised up from 0.3%. While prices reached the highest level since August 2007, the three-month 4.6% rate of increase remained below the 8.5% rate of growth as of December.

Prices were strongest during May in the East North Central region with a 1.1% rise (5.2% y/y) followed by a 0.8% gain in the South Atlantic states (6.9% y/y). Increases of 0.7% were registered in both the Pacific (8.5% y/y) and Mountain (7.9% y/y) areas.

The West South Central region posted a lesser 0.3% increase in prices (6.4% y/y) while prices in the West North Central area improved 0.2% (4.6% y/y).

In the three remaining sections of the country, prices eased. A 0.6% decline was registered in the East South Central region (+5.0% y/y) and prices fell 0.5% in both New England (+2.1% y/y) and in the Middle Atlantic states (+0.9% y/y).

The FHFA house price index is a weighted repeat sales index. It measures average price changes in repeat sales. An associated quarterly index also includes refinancings on the same 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 is available in Haver's USECON database.