First American’s proprietary Real House Price Index (RHPI) looks at April 2017 data and includes analysis from First American Chief Economist Mark Fleming on the impact of wages and lower interest rates on real house prices.
“Despite the monetary tightening policies of the Federal Reserve, a dip in the average rate for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage and wage gains increased consumer house-buying power sufficiently to offset the gain in unadjusted house prices. The decline in real, purchasing-power adjusted house prices between March and April was the largest month-over-month decline since July 2016,” said Mark Fleming, chief economist at First American.
For Mark’s full analysis on affordability, the top five states and markets with the greatest and smallest increases in real house prices, and more, please visit the Real House Price Index.