FHFA Home Prices Solid

Home prices are solid, up 0.5 percent in November according to FHFA data where the year-on-year rate is plus 5.9 percent. The Mountain states, at plus 10.0 percent, lead FHFA's year-on-year data followed by the Pacific at 8.6 percent and the South Atlantic, at 7.0 percent. The Middle Atlantic, at plus 2.6 percent, is the weakest of the nine regions in this report. The nearly 6 percent year-on-year rate in this report, and similar strength in Case-Shiller data, isn't gangbusters but it is solid and, in an economy fighting deflationary trends, is a favorable source of price traction.

Recent History Of This Indicator:
Home-price appreciation may not be booming but has been respectable, up a monthly 0.5 percent for a year-on-year plus 6.1 percent in the prior FHFA house price report. Forecasters see the monthly rate coming in at another 0.5 percent gain for the November report. With commodity prices and import prices low and wage gains limited, home-price appreciation, however moderate, has been one of the few positives for the inflation outlook.