FHFA House Price Index (HPI) Rose 1.1% for Q2, Annual Gain 6.5%

A U.S. flag decorates a for-sale sign at a home in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Washington, August 21, 2012. (Photo: Reuters)

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) House Price Index (HPI) rose 1.1% in the second quarter of 2018.  House prices are up 6.5% from the second quarter of 2017 to the second quarter of 2018.  FHFA’s seasonally adjusted monthly index for June was up 0.2% from May.

The HPI is calculated using home sales price information from mortgages sold to, or guaranteed by, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.  FHFA has produced a video of highlights for this quarter.

Significant Findings (H/T FHFA)

• Home prices rose in all 50 states and the District of Columbia between the second quarter of 2017 and the second quarter of 2018. The top five areas in annual appreciation were: 1) Nevada 17.0 percent; 2) Idaho 13.0 percent; 3) District of Columbia 11.8 percent; 4) Utah 11.3 percent; and 5) Washington 11.0 percent. The states showing the smallest annual appreciation were: 1) North Dakota 2.1 percent; 2) Louisiana 2.3 percent; 3) West Virginia 2.3 percent;  4) Connecticut 2.4 percent; and 5) Alaska 2.6 percent.
• Home prices rose in 99 of the 100 largest metropolitan areas in the U.S. over the last four quarters. Annual price increases were greatest in Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV, where prices increased by 18.8 percent. Prices were weakest in El Paso, TX, where they fell by 0.03 percent.
• Of the nine census divisions, the Mountain division experienced the strongest four-quarter appreciation, posting a 9.5 percent gain between the second quarters of 2017 and 2018 and a 1.9 percent increase in the second quarter of 2018. The Pacific division, which often records the strongest numbers in the country, only had a quarterly appreciation of 0.6 percent, its slowest quarterly increase since 2011. Annual house price appreciation was weakest in the West South Central division, where prices rose 5.0 percent between the second quarters of 2017 and 2018.