U.S. home prices increased 0.6% in May compared with April and were up 4.9% compared with May 2023, according to CoreLogic’s home price index.
It was the lowest rate of annual appreciation recorded since October 2023.
The month-over-month increase of 0.6% was the slowest in four months.
All states saw annual home price gains, ranging from 0.9% in Louisiana and Texas to 12% in New Hampshire.
Although home price appreciation slowed in May, it was nonetheless the 148th consecutive month of annual growth.
As has been the case for the past year, the Northeast continued to lead the country for annual appreciation, with New Hampshire the only state to post a double-digit increase.
Meanwhile, the price growth gap between detached homes and attached homes further widened, likely indicating homebuyer preferences for more personal space to work from home after the height of the pandemic, as well as surging HOA fees due to maintenance costs.
In May, the annual appreciation of detached properties (5.4%) was 2.6 percentage points higher than that of attached properties (2.8%).
“While national annual home price growth continues to slow as anticipated, cooling appreciation over the past months is now observed in more markets, as the surge in mortgage rates this spring caused both slowing homebuyer demand and prices,” says Selma Hepp, chief economist for CoreLogic, in a statement. “However, persistently stronger home price gains this spring continue in markets where inventory is well below pre-pandemic levels, such as those in the Northeast.”
“Also, markets that are relatively more affordable, such as those in the Midwest, have seen healthy price growth this spring,” Hepp adds. “On the other hand, markets with notable inventory increases, including those in Florida and Texas, continue to see annual deceleration that is pulling prices below numbers recorded last year.”
CoreLogic’s forecast shows annual U.S. home price gains relaxing to 3% in May 2025.
San Diego posted the highest year-over-year home price increase of the country’s 10 highlighted metro areas in May, at 9.2%.
Miami saw the next-highest gain at 8.5%.
Among states, New Hampshire ranked first for annual appreciation in May (up by 12%), followed by New Jersey and Rhode Island (both up by 9.8%).
Photo: Ian MacDonald