U.S. house prices rose 1.2 percent in the second quarter of 2015 according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) House Price Index (HPI). This is the 16th consecutive quarterly price increase in the purchase-only, seasonally adjusted index. FHFA’s seasonally adjusted monthly index for June was up 0.2 percent from May. House prices rose 5.4 percent from the second quarter of 2014 to the second quarter of 2015.

The HPI is calculated using home sales price information from mortgages sold to, or guaranteed by, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The seasonally adjusted, purchase-only HPI rose 5.4 percent from the second quarter of 2014 to the second quarter of 2015, while prices of other goods and services fell 1.4 percent. The inflation-adjusted price of homes thus rose approximately 6.9 percent over the latest year.

Significant Findings

• Home prices rose in every state between the second quarter of 2014 and the second quarter of 2015. The top five areas in annual appreciation: 1) Colorado – 10.6 percent, 2) Nevada – 10.5 percent, 3) Florida – 9.7 percent, 4) Hawaii – 9.5 percent, and 5) Washington – 8.8 percent.
  
• Among the 100 most-populated metropolitan areas in the U.S., four-quarter price increases were greatest in San Francisco-Redwood City-South San Francisco, CA (MSAD), where prices increased by 18.3 percent. Prices were weakest in the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ, where they fell -1.1 percent.
  
• Of the nine census divisions, the South Atlantic division experienced the strongest increase in the second quarter, posting a 1.7 percent quarterly increase and a 6.1 percent increase since last year. House price appreciation was weakest in the Middle Atlantic division, where prices were flat in the second quarter.

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