Home prices are continuing to rise all over the country, according to data on the recent U.S. House Price Index [1] (HPI) released by the Federal Housing Finance Agency [2] (FHFA) earlier today.
The report showed a national .5 percent month-over-month increase from December to January, and a 6-percent annual jump between January 2015 and January 2016.
Geographically, pricing changes varied, with a month-over-month 1-percent decrease in the Middle Atlantic census division, which includes New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, and a 1.7-percent increase in the South Atlantic one, which covers Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, and the District of Columbia. Annually however, both sectors saw positive jumps, with 1.7 and 8.9 percent increases respectively.
The Pacific region, which includes Hawaii, Alaska, Washington, Oregon, and California, held steady month-over-month with a 0 percent change, and year-over-year, it saw one of the highest jumps of all, rising 7.4 percent since 2015.
Other notable jumps included the Mountain region—Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico—which saw a 7 percent year-over-year jump, and the West North Central division—North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, and Missouri—which saw a 1.2 percent month-over-month increase. No regions (other than the Middle Atlantic) saw a decrease on either index
The FHFA House Price Index is generated monthly using pricing information from single-family mortgages sold to or guaranteed by either Fannie Mac or Freddie Mac. Prices are considered on a seasonally adjusted basis.
The next HPI will be released on April 21 and will contain data for February home sales, as well as year-over-year data for both the nation and the nine individual census regions. The next quarterly index will be released in May and will include monthly tables for all three months in the quarter.