FHFA house price index shy away from consensus

House prices rose nationwide in July, up 1.4 percent from the previous month, according to the latest Federal Housing Finance Agency House Price Index (FHFA HPI^®).  House prices rose 19.2 percent from July 2020 to July 2021. The previously reported 1.6 percent price change for June 2021 was revised upward to 1.7 percent.

For the nine census divisions, seasonally adjusted monthly house price changes from June 2021 to July 2021 ranged from +0.8 percent in the West North Central division to +1.9 percent in the South Atlantic division. The 12-month changes ranged from +15.6 percent in the West North Central division to +25.6 percent in the Mountain division.

"Record appreciation rates for the U.S. continued in July," said Dr. Lynn Fisher, FHFA's Deputy Director of the Division of Research and Statistics. "Although the monthly pace of increase slowed in most Census Divisions in July, four areas experienced year over year growth rates in excess of 20 percent and all saw annual gains in excess of 15 percent."