Housing in The Mountain Region is Heating up

Home prices in the Mountain region saw a 10 percent year over year rise between January 2017 and January 2018 according to the latest Home Price Index data released by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) on home prices across the country.

The monthly Home Price Index of the FHFA is calculated using home sales price information from mortgages sold to or guaranteed by, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Nationally, the index indicated a home price growth of 7.3 percent between January 2017 and January 2018, compared to 6.1 percent during the same period in 2016-2017.

There was very little change on a month over month basis with home prices across the country increasing 0.8 percent in January 2018 over the previous month. FHFA noted that the previously reported 0.3 percent increase in December was revised upward to 0.4 percent.

While all the regions across the U.S. showed a growth in home prices on a year over year basis, the monthly HPI data for the regions indicated a decline of 0.7 percent in the West South Central region. For the rest of the divisions, the seasonally adjusted monthly price growth from December 2017 to January 2018 ranged from 1.1 percent in the Mountain and East North Central regions to 1.2 percent in the New England and Pacific divisions.  

Over a 12 month period, the Mountain region, which, according to the FHFA, consists of Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico, recorded the highest changes in prices at 10 percent between January 2017 and January 2018 from 8.4 percent in the same period during the prior year. The Pacific region, which was neck-to-neck with the Mountain states in the 2016-17 period registered a growth of 9.4 percent in the 2017-18 period.

Home price growth in the West South Central Region (consisting of Oklahoma, Arkansas, Texas, and Louisiana) actually saw a deceleration of home prices from 6.4 percent in 2016-17 to 5.1 percent in 2017-18.