Mansfield, OH Federal Housing Finance Agency Home Price Index (FHFA HPI)

The Mansfield, OH, 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 was created in order to be a more accurate measure of house price changes than other commonly used indices because it uses data on actual transactions rather than appraisals.

The HPI for Mansfield peaked in June 2006 at 225.48 and then declined steadily until bottoming out in April 2009 at 143.64, before beginning to rebound. As of December 2016, the HPI had recovered to 192.51, but was still below its pre-recession peak.

Home equity is the portion of a home's value that is owned by the homeowner rather than being mortgaged. In other words, it is the market value of a homeowner's unencumbered interest in their property minus any outstanding mortgage debt on the property. The Mansfield HPI shows that home equity values have declined since 2006, but have begun to recover since 2009.

The relationship between home prices and home equity values is an important one because it can impact a homeowner's ability to borrow against their property value or sell their home for a profit. When home prices are rising, homeowners typically see an increase in their home equity because they own a larger portion of their home outright (i.e., they have less mortgage debt). Conversely, when home prices are falling, homeowners typically see a decrease in their home equity because they own a smaller portion of their homes outright and/or they may owe more on their mortgages than what their homes are currently worth (i.e., they have negative equity).