The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) House Price Index quarterly report for the first quarter of 2023 showed the price of houses in the U.S. has continued to rise, marking the 45th quarter of year-over-year increases.
The FHFA index showed home prices nationwide were up 4.3 percent in the first quarter of 2023 when compared with the same period last year.
On a state-by-state basis, home prices increased in 43 states from one year prior. The five areas with the highest year-over-year increases were South Carolina at 9.5 percent; North Carolina at 9.4 percent; Maine at 8.9 percent; and both Vermont and Arkansas at 8.8 percent.
The states with the largest annual price decreases were primarily western states including Utah (-4.3 percent), Nevada (-3.6 percent), California (-2.9 percent), and Washington state (-2.6 percent).
“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. “However, year-over-year prices in many western states have started to decline for the first time in over 10 years.”
House prices rose in 78 of the top 100 largest metro areas over the last four quarters. The annual price increase was greatest in Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, Fla. at 14.1 percent. The metro area that experienced the greatest price decline was San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, Calif. at -10.1 percent.
Of the seven regional census divisions with positive house price changes, the South Atlantic division recorded the strongest four-quarter appreciation, with a 7.2 percent increase between the first quarter of 2022 and first quarter of 2023. 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.