The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) released its monthly house price index for the U.S. on Thursday. The U.S. house price index rose 0.4% on a seasonally adjusted basis in December, missing expectations for a 0.5% increase, after a 0.6% gain in November. November's figure was revised up from a 0.5% rise.

On a yearly basis, U.S. house prices climbed 5.7% in December, after a 5.9% rise in November.

House prices increased 1.4% in the fourth quarter.

"Instability in financial markets did not seem to put much of a drag on home prices in the fourth quarter," FHFA Supervisory Economist, Andrew Leventis, said.