Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT Federal Housing Finance Agency Home Price Index (FHFA HPI)

The Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT, Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) house price index (HPI) is a weighted, repeat-sales index that measures average price changes in repeat sales or refinancings on the same properties. The index covers single-family homes with mortgages owned or securitized by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.

The HPI value for a particular geographic area is equal to 100 for the base period of January 2000. For example, if the HPI value for an area is 120 in March 2005, this means home prices have increased 20 percent since January 2000. Similarly, if the HPI value for an area is 90 in March 2005, this means home prices have decreased 10 percent since January 2000.

The Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk metropolitan statistical area (MSA) includes Fairfield County in southwestern Connecticut. The MSA had a population of 916,829 as of July 1, 2015, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk MSA consists of four counties: Fairfield County in Connecticut; Westchester County in New York; Putnam County in New York; and Dutchess County in New York.

According to the FHFA HPI report for February 2018, home prices in the Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk MSA increased 5.4 percent from February 2017 to February 2018 (the most recent data available). This was slightly higher than the national rate of home price growth of 5.3 percent over the same time period. Home prices in the Bridgeport metro area have been on an upward trend since bottoming out in early 2012 and are now about 35 percent above their pre-recession peak levels reached in early 2007 (see chart below).

As can be seen from the chart above, home prices across much of Connecticut began to rebound starting around 2013 after several years of declines during and immediately following the Great Recession (2007–2009). However, unlike many other parts of the country where home prices have surpassed their prerecession peaks by wide margins—in some cases by more than 50 percent—home prices statewide are still about 8 percent below their previous highs reached nearly a decade ago prior to the housing market crash and recessionary conditions that followed