U.S. house prices closed the second quarter of 2016 with a 1.2% rise, the 20th straight quarter with an increase, according to the House Price Index released by the Federal Housing Finance Agency Wednesday morning. On a monthly basis, the house price edged up 0.2% in May from June. The Data are compiled from mortgages sold to, or guaranteed by, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and are reported with a two-month lag.
“Although the appreciation rate for the second quarter was of similar magnitude to what we’ve been seeing for several years now, a close look at the month-over-month price changes during the quarter reveals a potentially significant market shift,” said FHFA Supervisory Economist Andrew Leventis, in a statement. “Our monthly price index indicates that in each of the three months of the quarter, the increase was only 0.2%. This is a much more modest pace of appreciation than we’ve seen in some time and most likely reflects accumulated pressures from significantly reduced home affordability.”
The seasonally adjusted U.S. (purchase-only) house price index now stands at 230.98 for the second quarter of 2016, with the January 1991 value serving as a benchmark rate of 100. The is a 5.61% increase compared to the same quarter in 2015.
Of the nine census divisions, the Mountain division experienced the strongest increase in the second quarter, posting a 1.9% quarterly increase and an 8.1% increase since the second quarter of last year. Quarter-over-quarter, the Pacific division region came in second with a quarterly gain of 1.5%, followed by the South Atlantic (up 1.3%), West South Central (up 1.3%), and East South Central (up 1.0%).
The following divisions saw prices increase less than 1% quarter-over-quarter. Prices in the New England division went up 0.9% over the past quarter, West North Central (up 0.9%), East North Central (up 0.8%) and Middle Atlantic (up 0.6%).
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