US House Prices Increased Month-Over-Month in March and During Q1, FHFA Reports

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) reported Tuesday (5-30-23) its House Price Index (HPI®) for March, as well results for all of 2023Q1. According to the FHFA HPI, US house prices increased 4.3% between 2022Q1 and 2023Q1. House prices were up 0.5% when compared to 2022Q4. FHFA’s seasonally adjusted monthly index for March was up 0.6% month-over-month.

The FHFA identified the following as significant findings:

• Nationally, the US housing market has experienced positive annual appreciation each quarter since the start of 2012.
• House prices rose in 43 states between 2022Q1 and 2023Q1. The five areas with the highest annual appreciation were: South Carolina, up 9.5%; North Carolina, up 9.4%; Maine, up 8.9%; Vermont, up 8.8%; and Arkansas, up 8.8%.
• The areas showing the greatest annual price depreciation were: Utah, down 4.3%; Nevada, down 3.6%; California, down 2.9%; Washington, down 2.6%; and the District of Columbia, down 2.3%.
• 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, FL at 14.1%. The metropolitan area that experienced the greatest price decline was the San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, CA (MSAD), losing 10.1%.

In a statement prepared to accompany the release of the report, Dr. Anju Vajja, Principal Associate Director in FHFA’s Division of Research and Statistics, said:

“US house prices generally increased modestly in the first quarter. However, year over year prices in many western states have started to decline for the first time in over ten years.”