The Federal Housing Finance Agency's latest House Price Index reported a 7.8% increase in U.S. home prices in the third quarter of 2020, compared to the same period in 2019. On a quarterly basis, home prices increased by 3.1%, according to the report.
"House prices recorded their strongest quarterly gain in the history of the FHFA HPI purchase-only series in the third quarter of 2020," said Dr. Lynn Fisher, deputy director of the Division of Research and Statistics at FHFA. "Relative to a year ago, prices were up 7.8% during the quarter – the fastest year-over-year rate of appreciation since 2006. Monthly data indicate that prices continued to accelerate during the quarter, reaching 9.1% in September, as demand continues to outpace the supply of homes available for sale."
The latest increase in house prices marks the 37th consecutive quarterly increase, according to the report. The FHFA also reported that all 50 states and the District of Columbia saw an increase in house prices between the third quarters of 2019 and 2020.
The top five areas in annual appreciation were Idaho at 14.4%, Arizona at 11.1%, Washington at 10.8%, Utah at 10.7% and Tennessee at 10.0%. Additionally, Idaho has been the leading state for the last eight quarters. North Dakota, Iowa, Louisiana, Alaska and Hawaii saw the lowest annual appreciation.
"Of the nine census divisions, the Mountain division experienced the strongest four-quarter appreciation, posting a 9.6% gain between the third quarters of 2019 and 2020 and a 3.8% increase in the third quarter of 2020," according to the FHFA.
"The Mountain division has been the leading region for 12 consecutive quarters. Annual house price appreciation was weakest in the West South Central division, where prices rose by 6.5% between the third quarters of 2019 and 2020."
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