Wausau-Weston, WI Federal Housing Finance Agency Home Price Index (FHFA HPI)

The Wausau-Weston, WI, Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) House Price Index (HPI) is a weighted, repeat-sales index measuring average price changes in single-family houses in the metropolitan statistical area. The HPI is a broad measure of the movement of single-family house prices and covers both new and existing houses. The index was created to provide a more timely and comprehensive measure of house price trends at the national level than was available with other data sources.

The FHFA HPI is based on sales price information from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's Uniform Mortgage Data Program (UMDP). The UMDP provides data on conventional first mortgages used to purchase one-to-four family homes. To be included in the HPI, a transaction must involve an arms-length sale between unrelated parties, be financed with a conventional first mortgage, have a loan purpose of home purchase or rate/term refinance, and have an origination date on or after January 1, 1975. In addition, to ensure that only repeat sales are captured by the index, each transaction must have at least one previous sale in the database with a matching address.

As of December 2020, the Wausau-Weston FHFA HPI value was 171.4, up 0.3% from December 2019 (171.0). From its peak in June 2006 to its trough in March 2011, prices fell by 33%. However, since bottoming out nearly nine years ago, prices have recovered by 58%. Despite this strong rebound off its lows reached during the housing crisis and Great Recession era – when many metro areas experienced double digit percentage declines – prices in Wausau remain about 18% below their pre-recession peak levels reached over 14 years ago.

Looking more closely at recent trends within the metro area’s housing market reveals that while prices had been steadily climbing for several years following the end of the recessionary period – gaining nearly 25% between early 2012 and mid-2019 – they then flattened out somewhat over 2019 before resuming their upward trajectory again early last year amid pandemic conditions (rising about 2% from December 2019 to September 2020). This most recent increase comes as something of a surprise given that many other markets across Wisconsin saw sharp declines in median sale prices during this same time frame due largely to COVID19 related economic disruptions (e.g., job losses leading to increased foreclosures). However it’s important to note that these statewide trends may not accurately reflect conditions within smaller metros like Wausau where job losses related to pandemic shutdowns were partially offset by an influx of remote workers seeking out more affordable places to live outside major urban areas