Port St. Lucie, FL Federal Housing Finance Agency Home Price Index (FHFA HPI)

In the Port St. Lucie, FL, Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) house price index for the fourth quarter of 2019, the home equity and home prices index was 154.6. This is a 0.4 percent increase from the third quarter of 2019 and a 4.8 percent increase from the fourth quarter of 2018. The FHFA house price index is a weighted, repeat-sales index that tracks changes in sales prices for single-family homes with conforming loan amounts. The index covers all nine U.S Census divisions and includes data from approximately 90 percent of the U.S population covered by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgages outstanding as of December 31, 2005.

In general, home equity refers to the portion of a property's value that an owner has paid for in cash or through a mortgage; it excludes any outstanding loan balance on the property. Home prices are determined by many factors including location, amenities, school district boundaries, and recent trends in comparable sales (comps). In addition to these more static factors, home prices are also influenced by larger economic forces such as job growth, inflationary pressure on wages and rents, consumer confidence levels, interest rates, and availability of credit.

The Port St Lucie metro area had a population of 442,769 in 2019 according to the US Census Bureau which is an increase from 2010 when the population was estimated to be 400,055 . The city's estimated per capita income for 2017 was $29,526 which is below both state ($33,)941) and national ($32,)397) averages . However , since 2010 there has been significant job growth in Port St Lucie with an estimated 5% increase in employment between 2016-2017 . In terms of education , 25% of residents over 25 years old have completed a Bachelor's degree or higher while 10% have not completed high school .

The average sale price of a home in Port St Lucie was $233k in Q4 2019 according to Zillow , up from $225k in Q3 2019 but down slightly from $235k in Q4 2018 . On a year-over-year basis , home values have increased 4%. Comps show that homes similar to those sold recently in terms of size , age , location , etc are currently selling for an average price of $242k which is 5% above recent sale prices . Despite this uptick in comps , overall affordability remains favorable with median household incomes able to comfortably cover median monthly mortgage payments . All things considered then it appears that current conditions favor continued appreciation although at more moderate levels than what we've seen over the past year or so .