U.S. FHFA House Price Increase Strengthened in October
Summary
- Gains are smaller than in the spring.
- Monthly house prices range is wide.
- In East South Central and Pacific regions, prices accelerated noticeably.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) House Price Index increased 1.1% (17.4% y/y) in October following a 0.9% (17.8% y/y) in September. House prices continue to rise but at a slower pace than seen in the spring. The home price series dates back to January 1991.
Monthly house prices ranged from -0.3% in the New England region to +1.7% in the East South Central and Pacific regions. Year-on-year price changes ranged from 13.2% in the West North Central region to 23.2% in in the Mountain region.
Regional details show house prices were strongest in the East South Central where they rose 1.7% (18.9% y/y) and in the Pacific states where they rose 1.7% (19.9% y/y). Prices rose 1.4% (19.4% y/y) in the South Atlantic region, 1.3% (14.5% y/y) in the Middle Atlantic region and 1.1% (23.2% y/y) in the Mountain region. Softer monthly gains took place in the West South Central region, where prices rose 0.9% (17.2% y/y), in the East North Central region where prices rose 0.7% (13.9% y/y) and in the West North Central where prices rose 0.6% (13.2% y/y). The only monthly drop took place in the New England region, -0.3% (15.4% y/y), though it follows a sharp 1.7% rise in September.
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.
Kathleen Stephansen, CBE
AuthorMore in Author Profile »Kathleen Stephansen is a Senior Economist for Haver Analytics and an Independent Trustee for the EQAT/VIP/1290 Trust Funds, encompassing the US mutual funds sponsored by the Equitable Life Insurance Company. She is a former Chief Economist of Huawei Technologies USA, Senior Economic Advisor to the Boston Consulting Group, Chief Economist of the American International Group (AIG) and AIG Asset Management’s Senior Strategist and Global Head of Sovereign Research. Prior to joining AIG in 2010, Kathleen held various positions as Chief Economist or Head of Global Research at Aladdin Capital Holdings, Credit Suisse and Donaldson, Lufkin and Jenrette Securities Corporation.
Kathleen serves on the boards of the Global Interdependence Center (GIC), as Vice-Chair of the GIC College of Central Bankers, is the Treasurer for Economists for Peace and Security (EPS) and is a former board member of the National Association of Business Economics (NABE). She is a member of Chatham House and the Economic Club of New York. She holds an undergraduate degree in economics from the Universite Catholique de Louvain and graduate degrees in economics from the University of New Hampshire (MA) and the London School of Economics (PhD abd).
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