The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) House Price Index (HPI) maintains domestic house prices increased 4.3 percent between the first quarters of 2022 and 2023.
“U.S. house prices generally increased modestly in the first quarter,” FHFA Division of Research and Statistics Principal Associate Director Anju Vajja said. “However, year over year prices in many western states have started to decline for the first time in over ten years.”
According to the FHFA, prices were up 0.5 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2022. The FHFA’s seasonally adjusted monthly index for March was up 0.6 percent from February.
The index incorporates tens of millions of home sales and offers insights about house price fluctuations at the national, census division, state, metro area, county, ZIP code and census tract levels.
Additionally, the FHFA uses a fully transparent methodology based upon a weighted, repeat-sales statistical technique to analyze house price transaction data.
Other index findings, according to the FHFA, include the five areas with the highest annual house price appreciation were South Carolina, North Carolina, Maine, Vermont and Arkansas while the areas showing the highest annual depreciation were Utah, Nevada, California, Washington and District of Columbia.
According to the index, house prices rose in 78 of the top 100 largest metropolitan areas over the last four quarters and of the seven census divisions with positive house price changes, the South Atlantic division recorded the strongest four-quarter appreciation, posting a 7.2 percent increase between the first quarters of 2022 and 2023.