Home Price Change From a Year Earlier · Rhode Island

## What this measures

How much single-family home prices in Rhode Island rose or fell over the past year: the percent change in the Federal Housing Finance Agency's purchase-only house price index from the same quarter a year earlier. Quarterly, in percent.

## Why it matters

It is the simplest way to compare housing markets across states: where prices are climbing fastest, and where they have started to fall. It moves before property tax bases, building permits and moving decisions catch up.

## How to read it

Percent change from four quarters earlier. Above zero, prices are higher than a year ago; below zero, lower. National home prices have risen most years since 2012, so a state near zero is weak by recent standards.

## What it does not say

The index covers only homes financed with mortgages that Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac bought or guaranteed, so cash sales and most expensive homes are left out. It is not adjusted for inflation. In small states few homes resell each quarter, so a single year's change can swing.

## Source

Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index, purchase-only index by state, seasonally adjusted (hpi_po_state.txt on fhfa.gov), public domain. The four-quarter change is a Palanor calculation from FHFA's index.