FHFA Shows Further Slowdown in Home Prices for May

The Federal Housing Finance Agency's (FHFA's) House Price Index (HPI) fell in line with most other indices in May, showing a slowdown in housing price appreciation.  The agency said home prices gained 0.1 percent compared to April and was 5.0 percent higher than in May 2018.

While the FHFA numbers have been trending lower they have not done so in a consistent manner and its annual figure remains significantly higher than the appreciation shown by other major data providers which have drifted down into the mid-3 percent range. Both of the May figures are reversals of April's gains of 0.4 percent for the month and 5.2 percent on an annual basis.  

For the nine census divisions, seasonally adjusted monthly house price changes from April 2019 to May 2019 ranged from a 1.0 percent loss in the East South Central division to a gain of 0.5 percent in the South Atlantic division.  The 12-month changes were all positive, ranging from 3.6 percent in the West South Central division to 6.7 percent in the Mountain division although that division saw a 0.3 percent monthly decline.

FHFA's HPI is calculated using home sales price information from mortgages sold to, or guaranteed by, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.  The index was benchmarked to 100 in January 1991.  The May 2019 reading was 275.0