• Home price appreciation accelerates.

• Record price increases are logged m/m and y/y.

• Double-digit annual gains spread across the country.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) House Price Index surged 1.8% (15.7 % y/y) during April after rising 1.6% in March, revised from 1.4%. Prices are strong due to firm demand, low mortgage rates and limited home supplies. The home price series dates back to January 1991.

By region, house prices were strong throughout the country. The strongest y/y growth was logged in the Mountain region (20.6% y/y) and New England (18.0% y/y). These gains were followed by the Pacific (17.6% y/y), Middle Atlantic (16.3% y/y) and the South Atlantic (16.0% y/y) regions.

Somewhat lesser growth was recorded in the East South Central (14.8% y/y), East North Central (14.1% y/y), West South Central (13.2% y/y) and West North Central (13.0% y/y) regions of the country.

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.