Racine, WI Federal Housing Finance Agency Home Price Index (FHFA HPI)

The Racine, WI, 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.

As of the fourth quarter of 2019, the HPI for Racine was 176.6, meaning that home prices had increased by 76.6% since the index’s creation in 1991. This increase is significantly higher than the national HPI of 140.3 and the Wisconsin HPI of 153.4 over the same time period. There are several possible explanations for why home prices have increased so much more in Racine than in other parts of the country or state.

One reason may be that Racine is located in southeastern Wisconsin, which has seen strong economic growth in recent years due to its proximity to Milwaukee and Chicago. The city’s unemployment rate was just 2.8% as of December 2019, well below both the national rate of 3.5% and the state rate of 3%. This low unemployment rate likely means that more people are able to afford homes, driving up prices. Additionally, Racine’s population has been growing steadily for several years now, reaching an estimated 78,860 as of 2019 – an increase of nearly 5% from 2010 levels. This population growth also likely contributes to rising home prices as demand for housing increases along with population growth