Talking Points

Talking Points 

• House price appreciation accelerated to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 7.3 percent in July, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) index. The Standard and Poor’s/Case-Shiller (CS) index shows house prices rose at an annual growth rate of 4.6 percent in July.

• Both indexes have been rising since the housing market stabilized in late 2011-early 2012. Activity from these indicators strongly reflects movement in existing home sales.

• Accelerating sales put upward pressure on prices and declining sales put downward pressure on prices.