The Northeast led in annual home price growth across the U.S., according to CoreLogic’s latest Home Price Insights from March.
Nationwide, home prices increased by 5.3% compared to March 2023, and grew by 1.2% from the previous month, February 2024.
“Home prices increased again this March beyond the typical seasonal uptick, despite mortgage rates reaching this year’s high and the affordability crunch continuing to keep many prospective buyers on the sidelines,” said Dr. Selma Hepp, chief economist for CoreLogic. “Even with the long-anticipated break in for-sale inventory, the surging cost of homeownership, further fueled by rising insurance and tax expenses, is holding potential home sales back, as is evident in the slow rise in sales compared with last year. These price pressures reflect the overall supply-and-demand mismatch, as well as continued interest from households with larger budgets.”
But it’s the regional trends that are most telling, with Northeastern states continuing to post the nation’s largest price gains. This is coupled with lagging inventory, as markets in states like Texas and Florida experience slower home price appreciation due to high inventory gains.
Among the top 100 metropolitan areas tracked by CoreLogic, the 10 fastest-appreciating markets in 2024 thus far include Camden, New Jersey, Hartford, Syracuse, Worcester, Newark, Allentown, Penn., Rochester, NY, with just three metros outside of the Northeast - San Jose, Anaheim, and Miami.
Home prices are expected to rise by 0.8% in April 2024 according to CoreLogic’s HPI Forecast, which is updated monthly. The index also forecasts prices increasing by 3.7% on a YOY basis from March 2024 to March 2025.
Overall, YOY home price gains remained above 5% in March for the fifth straight month, and are projected to stay in that general range for most of the next 12 months.
The CoreLogic Market Risk Indicator (MRI), a monthly update of the overall health of housing markets across the country, predicts that Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL is at a very high risk of a decline in home prices over the next 12 months (70%-plus probability). Atlanta-Sandy Spring-Roswell, GA; Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA; Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, FL and Greenville-Anderson-Mauldin, SC are also at very high risk for price declines.
