House price changes remain positive amid COVID-19
US house prices continued to rise nationwide, with some divisions posting strong price appreciation despite coronavirus challenges, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
FHFA's House Price Index (HPI) rose 0.2% month over month in April. Annual home prices also climbed 5.5% from a year ago, while the previously reported 0.1% uptick for March 2020 remained unchanged.
House price changes varied regionally, according to Lynn Fisher, deputy director of the division of research and statistics at FHFA.
On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, month-over-month price appreciation ranged from -0.5% in the South Atlantic to +0.8% in the West South Central division. Meanwhile, all divisions saw positive year-over-year changes, ranging from +5% in the Middle Atlantic to +6.8% in the Mountain division.
"Two of the usually stronger growth areas, the Mountain and Pacific divisions, were flat over the month but other divisions continued to experience strong price appreciation even with all of the COVID-19 challenges," Fisher said. "Both the New England and South Atlantic regions saw monthly decreases in prices, but all divisions posted positive year-over-year growth of at least 5%. The number of transactions used to estimate the HPI were slightly down from March to April but were still a robust sample. We expect the normal spring bump in sales was pushed off by the COVID-19 shutdowns and may extend into the summer months as states reopen and real estate sales pick back up."
