FHFA: Home Price Index Continues to Rise

There was another 0.1 percent increase in the Federal Housing Finance Agency's (FHFA's) House Price Index (HPI) in April.  The index, which is calculated using home sales prices from mortgages sold to or guaranteed by the government sponsored enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mac and Freddie Mac, was up 6.4 percent compared to April 2017.  The April report also revised the 0.1 percent increase reported earlier for March up to 0.2 percent.

Price changes in the nine census divisions tracked by FHFA from March to April ranged from a downturn of 0.5 percent in the West South Central Division (Oklahoma, Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana) to an 0.6 percent gain in the East North Central division which encompasses Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio.  Year-over-year changes were all positive, ranging from a low of 4.6 percent, again in the West South Central Division, to an increase of 8.9 percent in the Mountain division states of Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico.

FHFA's purchase-only HMI was benchmarked at 100 in January 1991. The April reading on a national basis was 262.5.