Seventh increase in a row in December
In the United States, the upward trend in house prices has continued. The FHFA house price index was up 1.1 percent in December compared to the previous month, as the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced on Tuesday in New York. This is the seventh increase in a row. In addition, the price increases were stronger than in the time before the corona crisis.
For December, the market was only expected to grow by an average of 1.0 percent. House prices had risen to this extent in the previous month.
In the corona crisis, many people have decided to leave the centers of larger cities like New York and buy houses in the surrounding area. In addition, mortgage rates, which fell significantly during the crisis, are supporting the housing market. The corona pandemic has therefore supported rather than burdened price developments on the American home market.
The FHFA is the regulator for mortgage financiers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, nationalized during the financial crisis. The index calculation uses the sales prices of houses whose mortgages have been bought or guaranteed by the agencies.
According to the Case Shiller Index, the rise in house prices in the USA has accelerated despite the corona crisis. In the country's 20 major metropolitan areas, prices rose 10.1 percent in December compared to the same month last year, according to the index published in New York on Tuesday. Analysts had expected a 9.9 percent increase. In November the rate was 9.2 percent.
