U.S. house prices up 10.8 percent over last year

The Federal Housing Finance Agency reports that U.S. house prices rose 10.8 percent from the fourth quarter of 2019 to the fourth quarter of 2020 according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency House Price Index. House prices were up 3.8 percent compared to the third quarter of 2020. FHFA's seasonally adjusted monthly index for December was up 1.1 percent from November.

“House prices nationwide recorded the largest annual and quarterly increase in the history of the FHFA HPI," said Dr. Lynn Fisher, Deputy Director of FHFA's Division of Research and Statistics. “Low mortgage rates, pent up demand from homebuyers, and a limited housing supply propelled every region of the country to experience faster growth in 2020 compared to a year ago despite the pandemic. In particular, house prices in western states and cities saw the highest rates of growth, where annual gains often rose above 10 percent."