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U.S. home prices have jumped nearly a full percent, according to the House Price Index (HPI) released by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) on Thursday. The HPI showed prices rose 0.7 percent from March to April—the same increase seen the previous month.
Over the year, the HPI shows that home sales prices have risen 6.8 percent. Broken down by U.S. Census Division, the Mountain region (Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico) experienced the biggest annual jump in home prices, with a rise of 8.9 percent over April 2016. At No. 2 for largest 12-month price increases was the South Atlantic region, which experienced an 8 percent uptick over the year. This division includes Delaware, Maryland, the District of Columbia, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida.
The West North Central division (North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri) came in last with a 4.7 percent increase since last year.
As for monthly changes, home prices in the West South Central division (Oklahoma, Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana) rose the most, ticking up 1.6 percent for the month. The South Atlantic region came in at No. 2, with prices jumping 1.4 percent.
Prices in the East South Central and West North Central divisions actually declined slightly for April, decreasing by 0.1 percent over March. The East South Central region includes Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama.
Prices have steadily risen year-over-year in most Census divisions with the exception of the Pacific region, which includes Hawaii, Alaska, Washington, Oregon, and California. Home prices in this area rose 8.9 percent from 2015 to 2016 and just 7.5 percent from 2016 to 2017.
According to the HPI, the compound annual growth rate since 1991 has been 3.5 percent. Since January 2012, it has nearly doubled, with a rate of 6.2 percent.
The HPI takes into account prices on purchase loans sold to or guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The FHFA will release the next Index on July 25. It will contain data for the month of May. To read the full monthly index, visit FHFA.gov.
