New Bern, NC Federal Housing Finance Agency Home Price Index (FHFA HPI)

The New Bern, NC, 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 and condominiums.

As of December 2020, the New Bern HPI was at 227.6, up from its pre-recession peak of 210.1 in December 2005 and just below its all-time high of 228.0 set in September 2020. From its trough in March 2011, the New Bern HPI has risen by 77.4%. This is a faster rate of appreciation than both the national HPI (up 63.8% from its trough) and North Carolina’s HPI (up 71.3% from its trough).

Home equity is the portion of a home’s value that is owned outright by the homeowner; it is calculated as the home’s market value minus any outstanding mortgage debt. In December 2020, homeowners in New Bern had an average of $163,000 in home equity, up from $141,000 in December 2019 and $116,000 in December 2018. This increase in home equity has been driven by both rising home prices and declining mortgage debt levels.

The relationship between house prices and home equity varies across markets; generally speaking, markets with higher house prices tend to have higher levels of home equity as well (since homeowners have more invested in their property). However, this relationship is not always linear; for example, even though New Bern’s house prices are currently below their all-time highs set earlier this year, homeowners here still have more equity than they did at the peak of the housing market bubble in 2005/2006 (when house prices were much higher but many homeowners had little to no equity due to excessive borrowing).