U.S. house prices rose 4.3 percent between the first quarters of 2022 and 2023, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) House Price Index (HPI). House prices were up 0.5 percent compared with the fourth quarter of 2022. FHFA’s seasonally adjusted monthly index for March was up 0.6 percent from February, FHFA said in a release.
“U.S. house prices generally increased modestly in the first quarter,” Dr. Anju Vajja, principal associate director in FHFA’s Division of Research and Statistics, said in the release. “However, year-over-year prices in many western states have started to decline for the first time in over 10 years.”
Nationally, the U.S. housing market has experienced positive annual appreciation each quarter since the start of 2012.
House prices rose in 43 states between the first quarters of 2022 and 2023. The five areas with the highest annual appreciation were: South Carolina, 9.5 percent; North Carolina, 9.4 percent; Maine, 8.9 percent; Vermont, 8.8 percent; and Arkansas, 8.8 percent. The areas showing the highest annual depreciation were Utah, -4.3 percent; Nevada, -3.6 percent; California, -2.9 percent; Washington, -2.6 percent; and District of Columbia, -2.3 percent.
House prices rose in 78 of the top 100 largest metropolitan areas over the last four quarters. The annual price increase was greatest in Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, Fla., at 14.1 percent. The metropolitan area that experienced the greatest price decline was San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, Calif., (MSAD) at -10.1 percent, according to FHFA.
“Of the seven census divisions with positive house price changes, the South Atlantic division recorded the strongest four-quarter appreciation, posting a 7.2 percent increase between the first quarters of 2022 and 2023,” FHFA stated in the release. House prices depreciated in two census divisions. The annual house price decreased by 2.4 percent in the Pacific division and by 0.1 percent in the Mountain division.