Mixed results for House Price Indexes

The slight decline in the FHFA HPI (NSA) in November was the result of continued weakness in the Mountain division (which is dominated by the problem states of Arizona and Nevada), with a 3.7 percent decline. This offset gains of 0.75 percent in the East South Central division (Tennessee and Alabama), 0.65 percent in the West South Central division (dominated by Texas) and 0.63 percent in the Pacific division (dominated by California).

The headline house price indexes were down in November, but across the regions results were mixed. The FHFA house price index was down 0.42 percent on a not seasonally adjusted basis (NSA) in November (but up slightly-0.02 percent -on a seasonally adjusted basis), while the Standard & Poor's Case-Shiller House Price Indexes (HPIs) were down 1.0 percent to 143.9 for the Composite 20 (CS20) index and 0.8 percent to 157.7 for the Composite 10 (CS10) index.

For the Case-Shiller indexes, prices were down in 19 of the 20 cities in November. The largest declines were observed in Detroit (-2.7 percent), Atlanta (-2.5 percent), Chicago (-2.2 percent), Minneapolis (-2.1 percent) and Cleveland (-2 percent). The only gain was observed in San Diego (0.1 percent).

- Courtesy of NAHB