FHFA Price Index Slows to 0.8% Growth in Q2

Every major home price tracker released in the last month has shown ongoing—albeit slower—appreciation in June, and the latest report from the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is no exception.

FHFA's seasonally adjusted House Price Index (HPI), calculated using sales price information from mortgages sold to or guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, rose 0.4 percent on a monthly basis in June, matching May's rate of growth. The increase marks seven straight months of gains.

On a yearly basis, the index was up 5.1 percent compared with May's 5.5 percent.

The agency also included quarterly comparisons in its June index, finding that home prices were up only 0.8 percent from the first quarter to the second—the first time quarterly price growth has been below 1 percent since early 2012.

Compared to the same quarter in 2013, appreciation came in at 5.2 percent.

"The extraordinary price appreciation observed over the last few spring seasons was not evident in the second quarter of this year. However, house price appreciation for the nation as a whole remained positive," said Andrew Leventis, principal economist at FHFA. "FHFA's data indicate that house price appreciation in the quarter was near or below the baseline rate of inflation in most states."

FHFA's purchase-only index picked up in 40 states throughout the second quarter, down from 42 states and the District of Columbia in the year's early months.

Of the nine census divisions, the Pacific again experienced the strongest increase in Q2, reporting a 1.3 percent quarter-over-quarter increase and a 9.8 percent gain over last year. Growth was weakest in the East South Central division, where prices fell 0.1 percent over the quarter.

At the state level, annual appreciation was led by Nevada, which posted nearly triple the national price growth rate at 14.8 percent. California (11.38 percent), the District of Columbia (10.74 percent), North Dakota (8.68 percent), and Arizona (8.39 percent) made up the rest of the top five states for price appreciation.