Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA Federal Housing Finance Agency Home Price Index (FHFA HPI)

The Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA, Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) house price index (HPI) is a weighted, repeat-sales index measuring average price changes in single-family houses in the metropolitan statistical area. The HPI is a broad measure of the movement of single-family house prices and covers both new and existing houses.

The FHFA HPI for Des Moines-West Des Moines was 192.766 in the first quarter of 2020, down 0.8 percent from the fourth quarter of 2019 and down 1.2 percent from a year earlier.

Home equity is the portion of a home's value that is owned outright by the homeowner, free and clear of any liens or mortgages. In other words, it's the market value of your home minus any outstanding mortgage debt.

According to CoreLogic's Home Equity Report for Q1 2020, U.S. homeowners with mortgages (which account for roughly 63 percent of all properties) saw their equity increase by $227 billion during the first three months of 2020 as home values rose amid low borrowing costs and tight housing inventory conditions. This increase pushed aggregate home equity up to $15 trillion at the end of Q1 2020, an all-time high since CoreLogic began tracking this data in 2000.

In Q1 2020, homeowners with mortgages had an average loan-to-value ratio (LTV) of 50 percent; meaning they had 50 cents stored in equity for every dollar they owed on their mortgage loan balance sheet . This marks an improvement from 49 percent last quarter and 47 percent one year ago when many borrowers were still feeling effects from negative equity positions stemming from the Great Recession .

Borrowers in Iowa had an average LTV ratio slightly below 50% at 49% as compared with national numbers . The state’s rate has been improving since hitting its peak negative equity rate during 3rd Quarter 2011 when 22% or 1 out every 5 Iowan borrowers with a mortgage were underwater on their homes . According to RealtyTrac’s U.S Home Equity & Underwater Report for Q1 2020 , there are currently 36,637 properties seriously underwater statewide representing 4 %of all properties with a mortgage . This number has been steadily declining since hitting its peak during 2nd Quarter 2012 when there were 92,354 properties seriously underwater representing 11 %of all properties with a mortgage .

Despite concerns about job losses related to COVID19 , low interest rates are continuing to spur refinance activity which will help support additional increases in home equity . According to Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey ,the 30 -year fixed -rate mortgage averaged 3.23 %for week ending May 21st ,2020 ,up slightly from last week when it averaged 3.22 % but still near historic lows set back in early April .