FHFA Price Index Gains Momentum in May

Home prices picked up steam in May, with growth accelerating slightly from month to month.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency's (FHFA) monthly House Price Index (HPI) increased 0.4 percent in May from April, the agency reported Tuesday.

April's HPI, originally thought to have shown no growth, was revised to reflect a 0.1 percent monthly price increase following March's own 0.7 percent gain.

On a yearly basis, prices were up 5.5 percent in May, slowing down once again. FHFA reported a 5.9 percent increase in April's index last month.

Seasonally adjusted price changes from April to May ranged widely across the nine census divisions, from a low of -0.7 percent in the East South Central area—encompassing Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama—to +1.1 percent in the West South Central division, including Oklahoma, Arkansas, Texas, and Louisiana.

Twelve-month changes were positive in all divisions, ranging from +2.5 percent in the Middle Atlantic to +9.6 percent in the Pacific.

FHFA's index is the second May price metric to be released this month, with FNC, Inc's Residential Price Index coming out a day before. That index, which excludes distressed property sales, showed monthly price gains rising to an even 1 percent, with annual growth dropping slightly to 8.2 percent.

Next week will also see the release of the S&P/Case-Shiller monthly price indices, which measure changes in 20 of the nation's top metros.