FHFA Price Index Soft, As Expected

The FHFA house price index came in soft as expected, up 0.3 percent in August with the year-on-year rate slipping 5 tenths to 6.1 percent from July's revised 6.6 percent. August is the lowest reading for the yearly rate since January last year.

The Pacific region was the strongest in August, up 0.8 percent with the yearly rate at 7.3 percent. The mountain region leads the yearly rate at 8.4 percent though was unchanged on the month. The middle Atlantic remains the softest at 4.0 percent annual growth and a 0.7 percent decline in August.

Growth in home prices has been slowing visibly this year for a housing sector, where demand is flat and mortgage rates going up, that is the big disappointment of the 2018 economy.