By Tuba Ongun
US home prices increased 4.3% at an annualized pace in the third quarter, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) said Tuesday.
Prices rose 0.7% from July-September, compared to the previous three-month period.
Anju Vajja, acting deputy director of FHFA’s Division of Research and Statistics, said high home prices and rising mortgage rates have been putting the brakes on growth.
"While house prices continued to increase because housing demand outpaced the locked-in housing supply, elevated house prices and mortgage rates likely contributed to the slowdown in price growth," said Vajja.
Nationally, the US housing market has experienced positive annual appreciation each quarter since the start of 2012, according to the FHFA.
Five American states with the highest annual appreciation were Hawaii at 10.4%, Delaware with 8.5%, Rhode Island with 8.4%, Connecticut at 8.2% and New Jersey with 8.1%.
Home prices declined in the District of Columbia and Louisiana by 3.1% and 0.4%, respectively.