U.S. Home Prices Rise In The Second Quarter

U.S. house prices continue to rise steadily with a 17.4% increase from the second quarter of 2020 to the second quarter of this year, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency House Price Index (FHFA HPI). Compared to the first quarter of 2021, house prices rose 4.9%, and the FHFA’s seasonally adjusted monthly index for June was up 1.6% from May.

Overall, house prices have risen for 40 consecutive quarters, or since September 2011. House prices rose in all 50 states, including the District of Columbia, between the second quarters of 2020 and 2021. House prices also rose in all of the top 100 largest metropolitan areas over the last four quarters. 

The five states with the highest annual appreciation were: Idaho (37.1%); Utah (28.3%); Arizona (23.9%); Montana (23.7%); and Rhode Island (23.7%). The states showing the lowest annual appreciation were: Alaska (8.2%); North Dakota (8.7%); Louisiana (9.6%); Mississippi (11.4%); and Iowa (11.5%).

The greatest annual price increases were in Boise City, ID, where prices increased by 41.1%. Prices were weakest in San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, CA, where they increased by 4.5%. 

The Mountain division experienced the strongest four-quarter appreciation out of the nine census divisions, posting a 22.9% year-over-year gain, and a 6.8% increase in the second quarter of 2021. The Mountain division has led annual growth for the past 15 quarters.

Annual house appreciation was the weakest in the West North Central division, where prices rose by 14.9% between the second quarters of 2020 and 2021. 

Trends in the Top 100 Metropolitan Statistical Areas are available in the FHFA’s interactive dashboard. All the indexes, including their historic values, and information about future HPI release dates are available on FHFA’s website: https://www.fhfa.gov/HPI.