House prices up 2.6% year over year in July; Middle Atlantic leads, Mountain states flat
FHFA HPI: +0.3% in July, +2.6% from July 2025. Division results ranged from +0.6% (Mountain) to +6.3% (Middle Atlantic) over 12 months.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s seasonally adjusted monthly House Price Index rose 0.3% in July and is up 2.6% from July 2025, according to the report released September 29. June’s previously reported 0.0% was unrevised.
The regional spread is wide. Twelve-month changes across the nine census divisions ranged from +0.6% in the Mountain division to +6.3% in the Middle Atlantic. Month over month, the Mountain division fell 0.8% while the Middle Atlantic gained 1.5%.
How to read it
FHFA’s flagship index uses purchase-only, repeat-sales data on mortgages acquired by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, going back to the mid-1970s across all 50 states and more than 400 cities. It is a slower, cleaner signal than listing prices: it tells you what the same houses resold for, not what sellers are asking.
Pair it with permits: Census reports August building permits at 1,394,000 (SAAR), 3.5% above a year earlier, so new supply is not collapsing nationally even as completions lag. Where prices are flat (Mountain), that is the combination to watch; where they are running (Middle Atlantic), inventory is the constraint. Your metro’s numbers matter more than the national average — FHFA publishes down to the ZIP code.
Sources
- FHFA House Price Index monthly report — data through July 2026 (released Sept 29, 2026)
- FHFA House Price Index (overview)
- U.S. Census Bureau & HUD — Monthly New Residential Construction, August 2026 (CB26-147) (released Sept 17, 2026)
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