Home prices made only small jumps on an annual basis this September, and are expected to relax even further by the same time next year.
Property data provider CoreLogic just released its Home Price Index and and Forecast, which indicated home prices rose by 3.4% in September – the slowest growth rate in over a year – and are projected to slow to 2.3% by Sept. 2025.
“Like much of the housing market at the moment, home prices remained relatively flat coming into the fall,” CoreLogic Chief Economist Selma Hepp commented on the new data. “Despite some improved affordability from lower mortgage rates during August, homebuyers mostly kept on the sidelines and decided to wait out the mortgage rate drop for a potentially better opportunity next year, when the current volatility, uncertainty surrounding the election’s outcome, and the impact on longer-term rates may be slightly clearer.”
Miami continued to post the highest annual price gain of tracked U.S. metro areas, at 6.8%, followed closely by Chicago at 6.7%. The highest annual growth rate among all states came through in Rhode Island, which saw a 9% YOY increase.
A total of 27 U.S. states reached new home price highs in September.
On a monthly basis, home prices remained basically flat from August (0.02%) following months of modest declines.
The latest numbers from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicated that the economy added 12,000 jobs in Oct. 2024. – far lower than the revised figure of 223,000 jobs added in September – the fewest in almost four years. However, consumer spending data appears to remain positive.
“While the mortgage rate and economic outlook is full of questions,” Hepp pointed out, “home prices are likely to maintain their leveled path until early next year when buyers return to the housing market.”
Conforming rates for 30-year-fixed mortgages have risen roughly 50 basis points since mid-September, diminishing buyers’ purchasing power.
Other takeaways from CoreLogic’s September HPI: the annual appreciation of detached properties (3.6%) was 1.5% higher than that of attached properties (2.1%).
CoreLogic’s October 2024 data, is scheduled to be issued on December 3, 2024, at 8 a.m. EST.
