Home prices continued their 133-month streak of increasing, growing by 4.4% year-over-year in February, according to a new report from CoreLogic.

CoreLogic’s Home Price Index for February found that the 4.4% increase was actually the tenth straight monthly decrease, and the lowest rate recorded since 2019. In addition, eight states and districts recorded annual home price losses, with much of the depreciation seen in the relatively expensive West, including California, Idaho, Oregon, Washington and Utah.

Key highlights:

• On a month-over-month basis, home prices increased by 0.8% compared with January 2023.
• The annual appreciation of attached properties (5.4%) was 1.4 percentage points higher than that of detached properties (4%).
• CoreLogic forecasts show annual home price gains slowing to 3.7% by February 2024.
• Miami posted the highest YoY home price increase of the country's 20 tracked metro areas at 15.6%, while Tampa, Florida continued to rank second at 9.3%.
• Florida and Maine recorded the highest annual home price gains, 11.3% and 10.3%, respectively. 
• South Carolina posted the third-highest growth, with a 9.2% YoY increase. 
• Eight states and districts recorded annual losses: Washington (-4.9%), Montana (-3.1%), Nevada (-1.7%), Idaho (-1.6%), Utah (-1.6%), California (-1.5%), Washington, D.C. (-1.2%) and Oregon (-0.7%),

Major takeaway:

“Tech company layoffs have likely affected housing demand on the West Coast,” said the author of the report. “However, as noted in the latest CoreLogic S&P Case-Shiller Index, home prices gains are holding steady in some large East Coast metros, as workers return to offices and buyer demand renews in areas that saw relatively less appreciation during the pandemic. Areas in the Southern U.S. are also holding up well given current market conditions.”

Selma Hepp, chief economist at CoreLogic, commented that, “The divergence in home price changes across the U.S. reflects a tale of two housing markets. Declines in the West are due to the tech industry slowdown and a severe lack of affordability after decades of undersupply. The consistent gains in the Southeast and South reflect strong job markets, in-migration patterns and relative affordability due to new home construction.”

 “But while housing market challenges remain, particularly in light of mortgage rate volatility and the ongoing banking turmoil,” Hepp continued, “pent-up homebuyer demand is responding favorably to lower rates in many markets. This trend holds true even in the West, leading to a solid monthly gain in home prices in February. U.S. home prices rose by 0.8% in February, double the month-over-month increase historically seen and indicating that prices in most markets have already bottomed out.”

For the full report, click here.

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