FHFA House Price Index Rises in Q3

On Tuesday, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) reported that its House Price Index rose 2.2% year-over-year in Q3. Quarter-over-quarter, house prices increased 0.2%. FHFA’s seasonally adjusted monthly index for September was unchanged from August.

For the nine census divisions, seasonally adjusted annual price changes ranged from a 0.1% decline in the Pacific division to a 5.7% increase in the Middle Atlantic division. Annual changes across the divisions were positive except in the Pacific.

Year-over-year, 44 states and the District of Columbia posted price gains. The strongest appreciation occurred in Illinois (6.9%), New York (6.8%), North Dakota (6.3%), New Jersey (5.9%), and Connecticut (5.8%). Six states recorded annual declines, led by Florida, down 2.3%.

Among the 100 largest metropolitan areas, 76 posted annual price increases. Allentown–Bethlehem–Easton, PA–NJ saw the strongest gain at 9.7%. Cape Coral–Fort Myers, FL, recorded the largest decline, down 10.8%.

FHFA noted that the US housing market has experienced positive annual appreciation every quarter since early 2012.

The HPI is a comprehensive collection of publicly available house price indexes that measure changes in single-family home values. FHFA uses a weighted, repeat-sales statistical technique to analyze house price transaction data.