Source: Scotsman Guide —
The latest Real House Price Index (RHPI) report from First American Financial Corp. offered further confirmation that affordability is one of the U.S. housing market’s biggest issues.
The RHPI, which measures the price changes of single-family properties and adjusts them for the impacts of income and interest rates, vaulted 45.6% year over year in April — the biggest annualized jump in the history of the series. Month over month, real house prices grew by 11.4%, also the largest increase on record.
Real house prices are now 24.3% higher than they were in January 2000, when the series was benchmarked. Consumer homebuying power fell 8.7% monthly and 16.7% yearly in April. Affordability has now fallen to the lowest level since 2007, which is due to a pair of pressures, according to First American chief economist Mark Fleming.
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