U.S. home prices continued to rise in August, increasing 0.3% compared with July and up 3.7% compared with August 2022, according to CoreLogic.
It was the 139th consecutive month that home prices increased on a year-over-year basis.
As of the end of August, home prices were 42% higher compared with March 2020, when the pandemic began.
Selma Hepp, chief economist for CoreLogic, pointed to a healthy labor market as one of the driving factors behind why buyers are stretching to afford the prices during this sustained housing market growth.
“While continued mortgage rate increases challenge affordability across U.S. housing markets, home price growth is in line with typical seasonal averages, reflecting strong demand bolstered by a healthy labor market, strong wage growth and supporting demographic trends,“ Hepp says in the report. “Still, with a slower buying season ahead and the surging cost of homeownership, additional monthly price gains may taper off.”
CoreLogic is forecasting that annual home price appreciation will relax slightly by August 2024 to 3.4%.
Eight states, mostly in the West, saw year-over-year home price declines, the fewest since February. New Hampshire ranked first for annual appreciation in July – up 9.4% – followed by Maine and Vermont – both up 8.9%.
Eight states recorded home price losses including Idaho, down 4%, Montana, down 2.7%, and Nevada, down 2.3%.
Of the metro areas, Miami continued to lead the country, in terms of annual home price growth, with an 8.3% gain. St. Louis saw the next-highest annual gain at 6.4%, followed by Charlotte, N.C. at 5.4%.
Photo: Kostiantyn Li