U.S. FHFA House Prices Edge Lower in December
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
- FHFA Home Price Index slips for second straight month.
- House prices are down in six of the nine census regions.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency reported that home prices eased 0.1% during December, the same as in November. Prices fell in four of the last six months and were stable in one. Prices increased 6.6% y/y versus a peak of 19.2% y/y reached in February of 2022.
Seasonally adjusted monthly house price changes were mixed amongst Census regions with the largest decline occurring in the Middle Atlantic area, off 0.8% (+6.8% y/y). Following closely behind was a 0.7% decline (+7.4% y/y) in the West South Central region and a 0.3% drop (+3.4%) in the Mountain region. Prices also fell 0.3% (+5.4%) in New England and dipped 0. 2% (+6.3% y/y) in West North Central region. Home prices in the Pacific region eased slightly (+0.6% y/y).
Increasing in December were home prices in the East South Central Region by 0.9% (9.5% y/y) and the East North Central region where they rose 0.2% (6.7% y/y). Home prices also improved 0.1% (10.6% y/y) in the South Atlantic region of the country. Year-to-year price increases in each of the regions of the country were well below the gains reached in 2021 or 2022.
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.
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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