Home Prices Step Up Pace Again

The rate of home price appreciation appears to be accelerating again, at least for those homes purchased using Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac mortgages.  The Federal Housing Finance Agency said its Purchase Only House Price Index (HPI), based on those mortgage originations, increased by 0.2 percent in May.  The April index, originally reported as an 0.1 percent change, was revised up, also to 0.2 percent. 

There was a wide spread in the rate of price increases across the nine census divisions. East South Central division (Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama) saw a gain of 1.5 percent and the South Atlantic division which includes the coastal states from Delaware through Florida plus West Virginia, was up 0.6 percent.  Two divisions saw price declines.  The East North Central division (Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio) saw a decrease of 0.6 percent and New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania in the Middle Atlantic division dropped 0.2 percent. 

On a year over year basis prices increased by 6.4 percent, the same 12-month gain reported in April.  Results for the nine divisions were all positive, ranging from a 4.9 percent increase in the West South Central Division (Oklahoma, Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana) to 9.1 percent in the eight mountain states.

The FHFA HPI was benchmarked to 100 in January 1991. The May index level was 263.3.