U.S. house prices rose 1.4% in the third quarter of 2017 according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) House Price Index (HPI). House prices rose 6.5% from the third quarter of 2016 to the third quarter of 2017. FHFA's seasonally adjusted monthly index for September was up 0.3% from August.
The HPI is calculated using home sales price information from mortgages sold to, or guaranteed by, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
"With relatively favorable economic conditions and a continued shortage of housing supply, price increases in the third quarter were generally robust and widespread," said Andrew Leventis, deputy chief economist for FHFA. "At some point, declining housing affordability should temper appreciation rates in some of the nation's fastest appreciating markets, but our third quarter results show few signs of that."
Home prices rose in 50 states and the District of Columbia between the third quarter of 2016 and the third quarter of 2017. The top five areas in annual appreciation were: 1) District of Columbia 11.6%; 2) Washington 11.5%; 3) Hawaii 10.0%; 4) Arizona 10.0%; and 5) Nevada 9.6%.
Home prices rose in each of the 100 largest metropolitan areas in the U.S. over the last four quarters. Annual price increases were greatest in the Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, WA (MSAD), where prices increased by 14.6%. Prices were weakest in Camden, NJ (MSAD), where they rose 0.5%.
Of the nine census divisions, the Pacific division experienced the strongest annual appreciation, posting an 8.9% gain since the third quarter of last year and a 1.7% increase since the second quarter of 2017. House price appreciation was weakest in the Middle Atlantic division, where prices rose 4.8% annually.
