Home Price Appreciation Strong in 2nd Quarter

Home prices continued their strong two year-long national trajectory by increasing 2.1 percent in the second quarter and 0.7 percent from May to June, the last month of that quarter.  The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) said the second quarter was the eighth consecutive one in which its purchase only Home Price Index (HPI) had increased on a seasonally adjusted basis and FHFA's Principal Economist Andrew Leventis called it one of the strongest quarters since the boom prior to the housing crash.  The index for the second quarter of 2013 was up 7.2 percent from Q2 2012 figures.

Seven of the nine U.S. Census Bureau divisions posted monthly increases in June with the East South Central division having the largest increase at 1.6 percent followed by the Pacific region at 1.3 percent.  The two regions in which prices dipped were New England (-0.3 percent) and the Middle Atlantic (-0.6 percent). 

The index rose 7.7 percent compared to June 2012 and each of the nine U.S. Census Bureaus also posted annual increases ranging from a maximum of 17.0 percent in the Pacific Region followed by 11.0 percent in the Mountain division.  The smallest increases were logged in the Middle Atlantic (2.5 percent) and New England (3.7 percent).

The seasonally adjusted purchase-only HPI rose in 47 states and the District of Columbia.  Prices fell in Hawaii (-1.93 percent), West Virginia (-0.64 percent), and Montana (-0.40 percent).

The HPI is calculated using home sales prices from mortgages sold to or guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.  FHFA also maintains an expanded data HPI which adds transaction information from county recorder offices and the Federal Housing Administration to the basic HPI data.  That index rose 2.4 percent over the latest quarter and is up 7.5 percent over the last four quarters.