House prices in the United States decreased slightly in May but remain significantly higher than they were a year ago, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s monthly House Price Index released Wednesday.
The report found home prices were down 0.3 percent for the month – but were 4.9 percent higher than in May 2019.
“The May HPI results are based on contracts for sale signed in late March and throughout April, which was a period when many states announced stay-at-home orders,” according to Dr. Lynn Fisher, Deputy Director of the Division of Research and Statistics at FHFA. “The number of transactions powering the FHFA HPI in May was down by just over 30 percent compared to a year ago, reflecting the early effects of COVID-19 shutdowns.”
Here is a look at the housing index over the last 30 years:
For the nine census divisions, seasonally adjusted monthly house price changes from April 2020 to May 2020 ranged from down 1 percent in the New England division to up 0.1 percent in the South Atlantic division. The 12-month changes were all positive, ranging from 3.7 percent in the New England division to 6.3 percent in the Mountain division.
