U.S. FHFA House Prices Strengthen in February
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
- Monthly gains extend throughout most regions of country.
- Year-to-year price increases weaken.
House prices rose 0.5% during February after increasing 0.1% in January, revised from 0.2% according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) House Price Index. The February increase was the strongest in nine months. Nevertheless, the 4.0% y/y increase was well below its high of 19.2% in February 2022.
Monthly strength in house prices was evident in the in the East South Central region where they rose 2.3% (8.3% y/y) and in the West North Central region where they rose 1.1% (4.9% y/y). Prices in the West South Central region increased 1.0% (5.2% y/y).
Moderate price gains were registered in New England where prices increased 0.8% (5.4% y/y), the East North Central region where prices increased 0.6% (5.1% y/y) and in the Mountain region where prices increased 0.5% (0.3% y/y).
Smaller monthly price changes were recorded in the Middle Atlantic region where they rose 0.3% (4.5% y/y). Home prices declined 0.3% (-2.7% y/y) in the Pacific region of the country, where they fell for the fifth straight month. Home prices also fell 0.3% (+6.2% y/y) in the South Atlantic region.
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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