Home price appreciation decelerated during the first three months of 2026 to one-third its pre-pandemic pace, according to newly released government data.
Rising just 1.7% from the first quarter of 2025, U.S. home price gains have continued to moderate following multiple years of double-digit gains, increasing just 0.1% from February to March, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) reported Tuesday. Home prices climbed 4.3% annually in the first quarter of last year and 6.5% at the start of 2024.
Eight states and Washington, D.C., posted lower prices than a year ago during the first quarter. Home prices in Colorado shed 2.4% over the year, followed by a 1.6% decline in Texas and a 1.4% dip in Washington, D.C.
Outside of the U.S. capital, Rhode Island and Florida were the only states east of the Mississippi River to see annual declines in the first quarter, with prices in those states falling 0.7% and 0.5%.
Ultimately, regional disparities that some economists have described as creating a “two-speed housing market” underscore the strong variation between markets where prices are singing and those where prices are sinking, FHFA data shows.
Illinois and Alaska led the country in yearly first-quarter home price gains, jumping 7.3% and 5.5% from the beginning of 2025. Vermont, Connecticut and Kentucky followed, each posting growth of 4.7% or more.
About two-thirds of the 100 largest U.S. metros recorded higher home prices than a year ago, reflecting a similar share of metros with declining prices observed at the end of last year. Prices rose the most in Elgin, Ill., up 10.8% from a year ago, while Austin, Texas, experienced the largest annual decline, sliding 6.9%.
The FHFA, which acts as conservator of government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, also tracks changes in home prices by the nine U.S. census divisions. No area saw a faster pace of home price growth in March than a year ago, though seven of the nine divisions posted overall higher prices.
Midwestern markets tracked more closely to year-ago performance, a sign of more resilient buyer demand.
The East North Central division, for example — which includes Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio — posted 5.1% growth in the first quarter compared to 6% growth a year ago. The West North Central division — containing the Dakotas, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa and Minnesota — posted 3.3% growth compared to 4.1% growth a year ago.
The New England and Middle Atlantic divisions, which have maintained robust home price appreciation since the pandemic, even as national trends have moderated, may have finally displayed some cooling.
A year ago, New England and the Middle Atlantic states posted respective first-quarter growth of 6.8% and 6.6%. This year, they logged quarterly home price growth of just 2.5% and 3.7%.
