The FHFA Housing Price Index rose 0.5% in February from a revised 0.1% in January (from 0.2%). House prices with mortgages guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac rose nationwide the FHFA House Price Index showed. Higher mortgage rates continue to put downward pressure on demand, weakening house price growth. For the nine census divisions, monthly house prices advanced the most in the East South-Central division (2.3 percent), while prices fell in the South Atlantic division (-0.4 percent).
Regarding 12-month changes, house prices rose by 4 percent nationally in February, the least since 2014, with considerable growth in the East South-Central division (8.3 percent) and a slight decrease in the Pacific division (-2.7 percent).
“This increase was, in part, due to a decline in mortgage rates by more than half a percentage point from the peak reached in early November as well as historically low housing inventory.” said Dr. Nataliya Polkovnichenko, Supervisory Economist
FHFA House Price Index February 2023 Highlights
- US FHFA House Price Index (M/M) rose in Feb: +0.5% (exp 0.1%; prev 0.2%)
- Year-on-year, house prices rose by 4 percent nationally in February, the least since 2014, with considerable growth in the East South Central division (8.3 percent) and a slight decrease in the Pacific division (-2.7 percent).
- Of the nine census divisions, monthly house prices advanced the most in the East South Central division (2.3 percent), while prices fell in the South Atlantic division (-0.4 percent).
About FHFA HPI
The FHFA HPI is the nation’s only collection of public, freely available house price indexes that measure changes in single-family home values based on data from all 50 states and over 400 American cities that extend back to the mid-1970s. The FHFA HPI incorporates tens of millions of home sales and offers insights about house price fluctuations at the national, census division, state, metro area, county, ZIP code, and census tract levels. FHFA uses a fully transparent methodology based upon a weighted, repeat-sales statistical technique to analyze house price transaction data.
FHFA releases HPI data and reports on a quarterly and monthly basis. The flagship FHFA HPI uses nominal, seasonally adjusted, purchase-only data from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Additional indexes use other data, including refinances, FHA mortgages, and real property records. All the indexes, including their historic values, and information about future HPI release dates are available on FHFA’s website: https://www.fhfa.gov/HPI
Source: FHFA
From The TradersCommunity News Desk