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FHFA House Price Index · Purchase-only, seasonally adjusted, United States

What is the US house price index?

The purchase-only house price index for the United States was 444.61 in the month ended , up 2.4% from a year earlier.

House price index, purchase-only, United States, seasonally adjusted, each month

January 1991 to August 2026Seasonally adjusted, as published

House price index, purchase-only, United States, seasonally adjusted, each month (January 1991 to August 2026), recessions shaded
House price index, purchase-only, United States, seasonally adjusted, each month (August 2016 to August 2026), recessions shaded
House price index, purchase-only, United States, seasonally adjusted, each month (August 2024 to August 2026)

Shaded bands are US recessions as the National Bureau of Economic Research dates them: to , to , to , to .

Shaded bands are US recessions as the National Bureau of Economic Research dates them: to .

House price index, purchase-only, United States, change from a year earlier, each month (ours)

January 1991 to August 2026Ours, from the published values

House price index, purchase-only, United States, change from a year earlier, each month (ours) (January 1991 to August 2026), recessions shaded
House price index, purchase-only, United States, change from a year earlier, each month (ours) (August 2016 to August 2026), recessions shaded
House price index, purchase-only, United States, change from a year earlier, each month (ours) (August 2024 to August 2026)

Shaded bands are US recessions as the National Bureau of Economic Research dates them: to , to , to , to .

Shaded bands are US recessions as the National Bureau of Economic Research dates them: to .

Each point is one month of the series as the source publishes it, or a change worked out from those values (ours). The US recessions are shaded. Pointing at the chart shows the month and the value.

Select a line to follow

Inspect and compare dates

The newest month beside the one before it and the nearest ones a year, five and ten years earlier. The last ten years are in the table under "The numbers behind the chart".

MeasureLatestThe month beforeA year earlierFive years earlierTen years earlier
Month
House price index, purchase-only, United States444.61443.21434.04345.45228.80
Change over a year+2.4%+2.5%+2.7%+18.2%+5.8%

The table scrolls sideways; the first column stays in place.

Observed .

Right now

The purchase-only house price index for the United States was 444.61 in August 2026, the highest since our record begins in January 1991.

Over a year it is up 2.4% (ours).

See every month of the last ten years

ChangeOurs

PeriodThenChange
One month443.21 in +0.3%
Three months442.17 in +0.6%
Twelve months434.04 in +2.4%
Five years345.45 in +28.7%
Ten years228.80 in +94.3%

In historyOurs

The purchase-only house price index for the United States of 444.61 in was higher than in 427 of the 427 other months since , the same in 0 and lower in 0.

Highest since : 444.61 in . Lowest since : 100.00 in .

AverageOurs

Average since : 212.857 (ours, a plain mean of the 428 months).

ComparedOurs

Over a year the purchase-only house price index for the United States is up 2.4%, which ranks 5 of the 10 rows of the table, where 1 is the largest change.

The table sets the purchase-only house price index for the United States beside the nine census divisions, by the change over a year in each one's newest month.

See every row of the ranking

Understanding the purchase-only house price index for the United States

Where it stands today

The purchase-only house price index for the United States was 444.61 in August 2026.

What does the purchase-only house price index for the United States measure?

The house price index (HPI) of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) follows the prices of single-family homes that are sold again. It compares each home's price with its own earlier sale, so it follows the same homes over time. The purchase-only index uses home sales and leaves out refinancings. FHFA publishes it each month, about two months after the month it covers. The index is set to 100 in January 1991.

Read more

What 500metrics adds: the change over one month, three months, a year and five years, the highest and lowest value since the series begins, and how the change over a year in the United States compares with the change in each of the nine census divisions.

The numbers behind the chart

What was the purchase-only house price index for the United States in each month?The last ten years, 120 months, newest first; the chart and the file have every month since Jan 1991
House price index, purchase-only, United States, seasonally adjusted, by month, newest first (Index, January 1991 = 100; the change ours)
MonthValueChange over a year
444.61+2.4%
443.21+2.5%
442.35+2.4%
442.17+2.4%
440.69+2.1%
441.31+2.0%
440.38+1.9%
440.75+2.0%
439.39+2.1%
438.16+2.2%
435.35+2.0%
433.62+2.0%
434.04+2.7%
432.19+2.6%
432.05+2.9%
431.81+3.1%
431.77+3.2%
432.62+4.0%
432.00+4.1%
432.24+5.1%
430.39+4.8%
428.57+4.7%
427.01+4.6%
425.22+4.5%
Show 96 more rows
MonthValueChange over a year
422.65+4.4%
421.15+4.7%
419.81+5.3%
418.68+5.6%
418.31+6.3%
416.01+6.4%
415.18+6.8%
411.22+6.3%
410.50+6.5%
409.42+6.3%
408.42+6.0%
406.87+5.7%
404.80+5.4%
402.34+4.3%
398.80+2.9%
396.33+2.5%
393.48+2.7%
390.82+3.3%
388.92+4.1%
386.71+4.9%
385.39+6.1%
385.32+7.6%
385.38+9.1%
384.85+10.3%
384.08+11.2%
385.63+13.0%
387.40+15.2%
386.55+17.0%
383.02+17.9%
378.26+18.1%
373.73+18.4%
368.73+17.8%
363.27+17.5%
358.27+17.4%
353.37+17.2%
349.01+17.5%
345.45+18.2%
341.41+18.8%
336.35+18.8%
330.35+17.9%
324.95+15.6%
320.20+14.0%
315.60+12.6%
313.01+12.4%
309.20+11.7%
305.19+11.2%
301.53+10.5%
297.00+9.4%
292.29+8.3%
287.27+6.9%
283.21+5.8%
280.15+5.0%
281.21+5.9%
280.82+6.2%
280.38+6.4%
278.50+5.9%
276.74+5.9%
274.44+5.4%
272.83+5.4%
271.40+5.1%
269.85+4.7%
268.76+4.8%
267.75+4.9%
266.75+4.9%
265.60+4.9%
264.34+4.7%
263.42+4.7%
262.86+5.2%
261.29+5.3%
260.47+5.5%
258.97+5.6%
258.13+5.7%
257.63+5.9%
256.38+6.1%
255.36+6.2%
254.31+6.2%
253.13+6.2%
252.44+6.7%
251.60+7.0%
249.97+6.8%
248.06+6.2%
246.95+6.3%
245.26+6.0%
244.30+6.2%
243.19+6.3%
241.61+6.1%
240.39+6.1%
239.49+6.3%
238.29+6.2%
236.59+6.0%
235.18+6.1%
233.97+5.6%
233.63+6.0%
232.25+5.8%
231.27+5.9%
230.09+5.9%
How does it compare with the nine census divisions?Ranked by the change over a year
House price index, purchase-only, United States beside the nine census divisions, newest month of each, by the change over a year (ours); equal changes share a rank
SeriesMonthValueChange over a yearRank
East North Central385.25+4.4%1
Middle Atlantic419.71+4.3%2
East South Central424.67+3.9%3
West North Central431.33+3.7%4
New England450.77+2.4%5
United States444.61+2.4%5
West South Central428.38+1.4%7
South Atlantic467.60+1.3%8
Pacific467.72+1.2%9
Mountain605.02+0.5%10

The table scrolls sideways; the first column stays in place.

What do these figures leave out, and how are they cited?Limits, dates and how to cite

What this number cannot tell you

  • The index covers single-family homes with a mortgage that Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac bought or guaranteed. Homes bought with cash or with other mortgages are not in it.
  • FHFA revises earlier months in each release and again when it re-estimates the seasonal adjustment. This page shows the values of the latest release; we keep every release.
  • A census division is a group of states. The nine divisions together are the whole country.
  • The changes, the ranks and the highest and lowest values are ours, worked out from the published index values.

Observed . Checked .

How to cite this

Federal Housing Finance Agency, FHFA HPI®, Purchase-only, seasonally adjusted, United States, through August 2026. Compiled by 500metrics, "What is the US house price index?", https://500metrics.com/house-price-index.

Can the data be downloaded?house-price-index.csv

Download the full history as CSV: 428 rows, to , 8,219 bytes.

Our text and compilation: CC BY 4.0.

Recession dates from the National Bureau of Economic Research.

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