U.S. house prices rose 18.7% from the first quarter of 2021 to the first quarter of 2022 according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s House Price Index (FHFA HPI). House prices were up 4.6% compared to the fourth quarter of 2021. FHFA’s seasonally adjusted monthly index for March was up 1.5% from February.
“High appreciation rates continued across housing markets during the first quarter of 2022,” says William Doerner, Ph.D., supervisory economist in FHFA’s Division of Research and Statistics. “Strong demand coupled with tight supply have kept prices climbing. Through the end of March, higher mortgage rates have not yet translated into slower price gains, but new home sales have dropped during the last few months, with a significant falloff in April.”
Nationally, the U.S. housing market has experienced positive annual appreciation each quarter since the start of 2012. House prices rose in all 50 states and the District of Columbia between the first quarters of 2021 and 2022. The five areas with the highest annual appreciation were Florida (29.8%). Arizona (27.5%), Utah (26.8%), Tennessee (25.8%) and Idaho (25.5%). The areas showing the lowest annual appreciation were District of Columbia (6.6%), North Dakota (10.4%), Alaska (10.5%), Louisiana (12.3%) and Iowa (12.5%).
House prices rose in all of the top 100 largest metropolitan areas over the last four quarters. Annual price increases were greatest in Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla., where prices increased by 41.3%. Prices were weakest in Cambridge-Newton-Framingham, Mass., where they increased by 9.1%. Of the nine census divisions, the Mountain division recorded the strongest four-quarter appreciation, posting a 24% gain between the first quarters of 2021 and 2022 and a 5.7% increase in the first quarter of 2022. Annual house price appreciation was weakest in the Middle Atlantic division, where prices rose by 14.6% between the first quarters of 2021 and 2022.
