Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR Federal Housing Finance Agency Home Price Index (FHFA HPI)

The Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR, 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 HPI covers single-family properties that have been sold at least twice since January 1975. The Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway HPI value for 2019Q1 was 176.935. This value represents a change of 1.8 percent from 2018Q4 and a change of 4.2 percent from one year ago (2018Q1).

The FHFA HPI is calculated using data from Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®), which covers approximately 75 percent of U.S. mortgage transactions each quarter through purchases and refinances from Freddie Mac's loan portfolio and securities holdings, as well as through information obtained when Freddie Mac acquires loans in the secondary market through foreclosure sales or loan assumptions.

In order to be included in the PMMS sample, a transaction must meet certain criteria including being a conventional first-lien mortgage on a one-unit property that is not owner occupied; having a term greater than 15 years but not more than 30 years; having an original principal balance of less than $453,100; being originated within 60 days prior to the end of the quarter for which it is being included; and finally, being closed within 30 days after origination date.

The Little Rock metro area includes Pulaski, Faulkner, Grant, Lonoke, Perry and Saline counties in Arkansas. According to the Census Bureau’s 2017 American Community Survey 5-year estimates, the population of this metro area is 729,135 with median household income of $52,225 and median home value of $144,100. Homeownership rate in this metro area is 65 percent which is lower than both national homeownership rate (64 percent) as well as Arkansas’s homeownership rate (68 percent).

From 2000Q1 to 2003Q2 there was decrease in house prices followed by an increase until 2006Q3 after which there was again decrease till 2011Q1 . After 2011Q1 there has been an increasing trend in prices with some fluctuations till present day . In general we can see an increasing trend in prices with some volatility .

Table 1: House Price Index for Little Rock MSA

|2000 Q1 |2003 Q2 |2006 Q3 |2011 Q1 |2019 Q1 |

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Value |103.032 |93.188 |106.893 |88.016 |176..935|