In February, home prices across the U.S. rose at a faster pace than the month prior and continued to appreciate at higher than 2020 average monthly rates, according to Radian Home Price Index (HPI) data released today by Red Bell Real Estate LLC, a Radian Group Inc. company.
February 2020 was the last month before pandemic-related shutdowns were implemented nationally. One year past that transition, home prices have shown resiliency, the company says. The Radian HPI rose 8.3 percent year-over-year (February 2020 to February 2021). In comparison, the year-over-year period from February 2019 through February 2020 recorded a 7.4 percent increase in home prices nationally.
“It is crystal clear that home values have withstood the most severe pandemic in generations,” says Steve Gaenzler, senior vice president of data and analytics. “While the general economy struggled and unemployment rose, millions of Americans saw their property wealth increase during a time of great personal and economic stress.”
The average homeowner in the U.S. gained more than $20,000 in wealth last year due to strong home price appreciation, according to Radian
Nationally, the median home price in the U.S. rose to $272,186. That is an annualized increase of 9.3 percent over the last six months.
Regionally, February gains were solid across nearly all regions. The Midwest softened, while Southwest and West showed the strongest gains. Similar to the national reporting, all U.S. regions reported positive price appreciation in residential markets in February 2021.
The Mid Atlantic and Northeast were particularly resilient in what are normally down months for housing activity. While their appreciation rates were comparable to those recorded over the last four months, it is more common to see some slowing of appreciation during winter months in these markets.
At the state level, home price appreciation was positive in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. However, 20 of the 51 states reported slower monthly appreciation in February when compared to the prior month.
Photo by Franco Folini, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0