Home prices increased in August, rising only 0.2% from the previous month but up 4.6% from 2018, according to the latest monthly House Price Index from the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
The FHFA monthly HPI is calculated using home sales price information from mortgages sold to or guaranteed by, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Because of this, the selection excludes high-end homes bought with jumbo loans or cash sales.
The report explains that across the nine census divisions, the New England division saw the strongest appreciation growth, rising by 0.9% in August, whereas the East South-Central division experienced no growth, as appreciation declined 0.8%.
However, the FHFA highlights that the 12-month changes were all positive, with the Middle Atlantic and Pacific divisions posting the smallest gain of 3.9%, and the Mountain division leading the way with a 6.5% increase.
These are the states located in each division mentioned:
New England division: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut
East South-Central: Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama
Middle Atlantic: New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania
Pacific: Hawaii, Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California
Mountain: Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico
The chart below compares 12-month price changes to the prior year:
[Update: This article is updated to reflect that the data in the FHFA report references August home price data.]
