Home prices moved higher on a monthly, quarterly and annual basis. Year-over-year gains were biggest in the West, while Eastern states led month-over-month gains.
As of September, the seasonally adjusted U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency House Price Index came in at 239.2. The index is reflective of only purchases.
Compared to the previous month, FHFA’s index was up 0.6 percent. But at 6.1 percent, the gain
versus a year prior in the nation’s home prices was more substantial.
FHFA’s index is determined from home-sales data on mortgages that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac purchase or guarantee.
“Our data indicate that the deceleration in home price growth that we observed in late spring proved to be short-lived,” FHFA Supervisory Economist Andrew Leventis said in the report. “While price growth in select markets has cooled somewhat, for the U.S. as a whole, the third quarter showed no evidence of a widespread slowdown.”
FHFA’s index was up 8.1 percent from September 2015 in the Pacific, more than any other region — though South Atlantic prices have risen 7.3 percent.
New England fared worst with a 2.9 percent year-over-year gain, and the Middle Atlantic was close with a 3.4 percent increase.
Without seasonal adjustments, FHFA’s U.S. HPI
was 238 in the third-quarter 2015, increasing 6.0 percent from a year earlier. The quarterly index topped out at 226 in the second-quarter 2007 and bottomed out below 178 in the first-quarter 2011.
The Black Knight HPI indicated that the average U.S. home price was $266,000 in September 2016. That was just 0.1 percent more than in August but 5.4 percent more than in September 2015.
Black Knight’s index sat at 0.6 percent less than the June 2006 peak and a third above the January 2012 trough.
Compared to August 2016, home prices were up 0.9 percent in New York — the biggest gain of any state — according to Black Knight. Florida’s 0.6 percent gain was next, then Utah’s 0.6 percent, Arizona’s 0.5 percent and Idaho’s 0.5 percent.
With an 0.9 percent month-over-month decline, Connecticut home prices were down the most.
The CoreLogic HPI had U.S. home prices rising 1.1 percent between August and September of this year. Compared to the same month in 2015, home prices were up 6.3 percent.
CoreLogic forecasts that its October report will show an 0.3 percent month-over-month rise.
“Home-equity wealth has doubled during the last five years to $13 trillion, largely because of the recovery in home prices,” CoreLogic Chief Economist Dr. Frank Nothaft said in the report. “Nationwide during the past year, the average gain in housing wealth was about $11,000 per homeowner, but with wide geographic variation.”
Home prices in Washington have ascended 10.3 percent from September 2015 to September 2016 — the largest year-over-year gain of any state –according to CoreLogic. Oregon saw a 10.1 percent increase, then 8.6 percent in Colorado, 7.8 percent in Utah and 7.7 percent in Idaho.
Alaska’s home prices have fallen 0.9 percent, worse than any other state.
