Annual U.S home price growth rose for the 133rd straight month in February, according to new data from CoreLogic. However, the month’s 4.4% increase was the lowest recorded since 2019.
On a month-over-month basis, home prices increased by 0.8% compared with January 2023.
Florida and Maine recorded the highest annual home price gains, 11.3% and 10.3%, respectively, followed by South Carolina with a 9.2% year-over-year increase. Miami posted the highest year-over-year home price increase of the country’s 20 tracked metro areas in February, at 15.6%, while Tampa, Florida continued to rank second at 9.3%.
Seven states and the District of Columbia recorded annual home price losses with the greatest depreciation coming in Washington State (-4.9%) and Montana (-3.1%).
“The divergence in home price changes across the U.S. reflects a tale of two housing markets,” said Selma Hepp, chief economist at CoreLogic. “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,” added, “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.”
Looking ahead, CoreLogic forecasted annual U.S. home price gains slowing to 3.7% by February 2024.
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