U.S. home prices increased 1.1% in the first quarter compared with the fourth quarter and were up 6.6% from the first quarter of 2023, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) home price index.
Looking just at March, home prices for that month increased 0.1% compared with February.
“U.S. house prices continued to grow at a steady pace in the first quarter,” says Anju Vajja, deputy director for FHFA’s Division of Research and Statistics, in a statement. “Over the last six consecutive quarters, the low inventory of homes for sale continued to contribute to house price appreciation despite mortgage rates that hovered around 7 percent.”
Nationally, the U.S. housing market has experienced positive annual appreciation each quarter since the start of 2012, the FHFA says.
The five states with the highest annual appreciation in the first quarter were Vermont (12.8%), New Jersey (11.6%), New York (10.9%), Delaware (10.7%), and Wisconsin (9.9%).
The District of Columbia saw home prices decrease 1.5%.
Photo: Julien Maculan