Home-Price Growth Hits Lowest Rate Since Spring 2012

Home price growth fell to 3.1% in March, the lowest rate of appreciation since the spring of 2012, according to a new report from CoreLogic.

CoreLogic’s Home Price Index for March found that while home price growth rose for the 134th consecutive month, it declined from one year earlier in 10 states, mostly those in the West, reflecting the lack of affordability from continued inventory shortages. Also, demand for higher-priced homes is slowing compared with median-priced homes.

Key highlights:

On a month-over-month basis, home prices increased by 1.6% compared with February 2023.
In March, the annual appreciation of attached properties (4.6%) was 2.1 percentage points higher than that of detached properties (2.5%).
CoreLogic forecasts show annual home price gains moving to 4.6% by March 2024.
Miami posted the highest YoY home price increase of the country's 20 tracked metro areas in March, at 14.8%, while Tampa, Florida continued to rank second at 6.9%.
Among states, Vermont and Indiana recorded the highest annual home price gains, at 9.9% and 9.2%, respectively.
Florida posted the third-highest growth, with an 8.9% YoY increase.
Ten states recorded annual losses: Washington (-7.4%), Idaho (-3.6%), Nevada (-3.5%), Utah (-3.4%), California (-3%), Montana (-2.3%), Oregon (-2%), Colorado (-1%), Arizona (-0.9%) and New York (-0.6%).

Major takeaway:

“While housing markets across the country continue to send mixed signals, prices in many large metros appeared to have turned the corner, with the U.S. recording a second month of consecutive monthly gains,” said Selma Hepp, chief economist at CoreLogic. “At 1.6%, the month-over-month increase was twice the average seen between 2015 and 2020.”

“The monthly rebound in home prices underscores the lack of inventory in this housing cycle,” Hepp continued. “In addition, while the lack of affordability generally weighs on home price growth, mobility resulting from remote working conditions appears to be a current driver of home prices in some areas of the country.”

For the full report, click here.