Housing price further strengthens in September

U.S. house prices rose 7.8 percent from the third quarter of 2019 to the third quarter of 2020 according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency House Price Index (FHFA HPI^®). House prices were up 3.1 percent in the third quarter of 2020. FHFA's seasonally adjusted monthly index for September was up 1.7 percent from August.

"House prices recorded their strongest quarterly gain in the history of the FHFA HPI purchase-only series in the third quarter of 2020," said Dr. Lynn Fisher, Deputy Director of the Division of Research and Statistics at FHFA. "Relative to a year ago, prices were up 7.8 percent during the quarter – the fastest year-over-year rate of appreciation since 2006.  Monthly data indicate that prices continued to accelerate during the quarter, reaching 9.1 percent in September, as demand continues to outpace the supply of homes available for sale."