U.S. FHFA House Prices Rise Modestly in April, w/ the Lowest Y/Y Rate Since Sept. ’23
Summary
- FHFA HPI +0.2% (+6.3% y/y) in April vs. unchanged (+6.7% y/y) in March.
- House prices rise m/m in six of nine census divisions, w/ the highest rate in East South Central (1.4%).
- House prices gain y/y in all of the nine regions, w/ the highest rate in New England (8.5%).
U.S. house prices were up 0.2% m/m in April after being virtually unchanged in March (+0.1% initially) and rising 1.3% in February (+1.2% previously), according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) House Price Index. The latest reading was the 18th m/m gain in 20 months. The April HPI at 424.31 was 50.5% above a low of 281.85 in May 2020. The year-on-year rate of increase eased to 6.3% in April, the lowest since September 2023, from 6.7% March; it was up from 3.1% in April 2023 but well below a high of 18.9% in February 2022.
The month-on-month increases in house prices were evident in April (vs. March) in six of the nine census divisions. These included East South Central (1.4% vs. -0.5%), New England (0.7% vs. -0.6%), West North Central (0.6% vs. 0.0%), Pacific (0.4% vs. -1.1%), East North Central (0.2% vs. 0.7%), and South Atlantic (0.1% vs. 0.2%). To the downside, house prices fell m/m in two census divisions in April (vs. March): Middle Atlantic (-0.2% vs. 1.0%) and West South Central (-0.2% vs. 0.2%). Meanwhile, house prices in the Mountain region were essentially unchanged m/m in April following a 0.2% March drop and four straight monthly rises.
Year-on-year house prices continued to gain in April, with the pace of advance accelerating (vs. March) in two of the nine census divisions. These were West North Central (6.7% vs. 6.5%) and East South Central (6.1% vs. 4.5%). Meanwhile, house price growth decelerated y/y in April (vs. March) in the following six census divisions: West South Central (3.0% vs. 3.5%), Mountain (5.2% vs. 5.8%), South Atlantic (6.4% vs. 6.7%), East North Central (7.9% vs. 8.6%), Middle Atlantic (8.46% vs. 10.82%), and New England (8.53% vs. 9.55%). House price growth in Pacific held virtually steady at 5.7% 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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