US: House prices rise 0.2% in June vs. 0.3% expected

"U.S. house prices rose 1.1 percent in the second quarter of 2018," the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) said in its latest House Price Index (HPI) report and added: "FHFA’s seasonally adjusted monthly index for June was up 0.2 percent from May."

Key quotes

• House prices rose 6.5 percent from the second quarter of 2017 to the second quarter of 2018.
• Mortgage rates have increased by more than half a percentage point over the first six months of the year.
  • Rates are still inexpensive from a historical standpoint, but their bump-up appears to have gently pressed the brakes on house price increases.