US home prices jump past forecasts in April
House prices in the US continued to bound ahead more quickly than expected in April, the results of two closely followed surveys revealed.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency's house price index jumped at a month-on-month pace of 1.8% (consensus: 1.7%).
That came alongside an upwardly revised 1.6% gain in prices during March, which combined pushed the annual rate of price increases to 15.7%.
According to the FHFA's deputy director for Research and Statistics, Lynn Fisher: "This unprecedented price growth persists due to strong demand, bolstered by still-low mortgage rates, and too few homes for sale."
Similarly, the Standard&Poor's CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-city home price index, which was published alongside the FHFA measure, advanced by 2.11% on the month (consensus: 1.8%).