U.S. FHFA House Prices Continue to Appreciate in September
Summary
- FHFA HPI +0.6% m/m in Sept.; +6.1% y/y, the highest y/y rate since Dec.’22.
- House prices rise m/m in eight of nine census divisions vs. a 0.4% drop in the Pacific region.
- House prices gain y/y in all of the nine regions, w/ the highest rate in New England (11.4%).
U.S. house prices rose 0.6% m/m in September after rises of 0.7% in August (+0.6% initially) and 0.8% in July (unrevised), according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) House Price Index. The September reading was the 10th straight monthly rise to the highest index level on record (414.76). The year-on-year rate of increase accelerated to 6.1% in September, the highest since December 2022, from 5.8% in August; nevertheless, decelerating from 11.0% in September 2022 and a high of 19.0% in February 2022. In Q3'23, house prices grew 2.1% q/q after a 1.9% Q2 increase, registering the largest of four consecutive quarterly gains. The y/y rate quickened to 5.5% in Q3, the fastest since Q4'22, after slowing to 3.2% in Q2.
The month-on-month increases in house prices were evident in September (vs. August) in eight of the nine census divisions. These included New England (+1.6% vs. + 0.6%), South Atlantic (+1.4% vs. +0.2%), East South Central (+1.2% vs. +0.4%), Mountain (+0.6% vs. +0.8%), West South Central (+0.6% vs. +0.4%), East North Central (+0.4% vs. +1.0%), West North Central (+0.3% vs. +0.9%), and Middle Atlantic (+0.1% vs. +1.2%). In contrast, house prices in the Pacific region fell 0.4% m/m in September, the first monthly fall since January, following a 1.0% increase in August.
Year-on-year house prices rose in September, with the pace of advance accelerating (vs. August) in five of the nine census divisions. These included New England (11.4% vs. 8.6%), South Atlantic (7.5% vs. 6.6%), East South Central (5.6% vs. 5.2%), West South Central (3.8% vs. 3.1%), and Mountain (3.2% vs. 2.6%). Meanwhile, house price growth decelerated y/y in September (vs. August) in Middle Atlantic (8.3% vs. 9.0%), East North Central (8.1% vs. 8.4%), and Pacific (2.0% vs. 2.8%). House price growth in West North Central was virtually unchanged at 6.5% 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 includes refinancing the same kind 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.
Winnie Tapasanun
AuthorMore in Author Profile »Winnie Tapasanun has been working for Haver Analytics since 2013. She has 20+ years of working in the financial services industry. As Vice President and Economic Analyst at Globicus International, Inc., a New York-based company specializing in macroeconomics and financial markets, Winnie oversaw the company’s business operations, managed financial and economic data, and wrote daily reports on macroeconomics and financial markets. Prior to working at Globicus, she was Investment Promotion Officer at the New York Office of the Thailand Board of Investment (BOI) where she wrote monthly reports on the U.S. economic outlook, wrote reports on the outlook of key U.S. industries, and assisted investors on doing business and investment in Thailand. Prior to joining the BOI, she was Adjunct Professor teaching International Political Economy/International Relations at the City College of New York. Prior to her teaching experience at the CCNY, Winnie successfully completed internships at the United Nations. Winnie holds an MA Degree from Long Island University, New York. She also did graduate studies at Columbia University in the City of New York and doctoral requirements at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. Her areas of specialization are international political economy, macroeconomics, financial markets, political economy, international relations, and business development/business strategy. Her regional specialization includes, but not limited to, Southeast Asia and East Asia. Winnie is bilingual in English and Thai with competency in French. She loves to travel (~30 countries) to better understand each country’s unique economy, fascinating culture and people as well as the global economy as a whole.
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