Home prices nationwide rose on an annual and quarterly basis during the last three months of 2025, according to the latest figures from the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), regulator of government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Capping a year of accelerated price softening as the U.S. housing market recalibrates from years of rapid price appreciation during the COVID-19 pandemic, headline price resilience belies the growing impacts of slow homebuyer demand and rising inventory levels.

In the fourth quarter, the FHFA’s House Price Index (HPI) was 0.8% higher than the third quarter and 1.8% higher year over year — down from 4.6% annual growth in the fourth quarter of last year and 6.2% growth at the end of 2023.

Despite aggregate gains, regional undertows pulled house prices lower on a yearly basis in December, specifically, across many markets amid an ongoing softening trend.

Three of the nine census divisions tracked by the HPI observed declines, with the Pacific division slipping 0.4% in December from a year ago and the South Atlantic division posting a small 0.1% decrease. A 0.6% decline across the Mountain division in December represented a 5.5% swing from 4.9% growth the previous year.

The South Atlantic, Pacific and Mountain divisions also posted annual fourth-quarter declines. The New England, West North Central, Middle Atlantic and East North Central divisions all experienced strong annual fourth-quarter increases ranging from just above 3% to just over 5%.

Midwest markets exhibited the greatest price resilience at the end of 2025, with the West North Central division and East North Central division notching 3.9% and 5.2% annual growth in December compared to 5.1% and 6.8% annual growth a year ago, respectively.

On a more granular level, house prices declined over the year in the fourth quarter across nine states and Washington, D.C. — including the nation’s largest state-level housing markets in California, Texas and Florida, which saw respective declines of 0.8%, 0.8% and 2.7%.

Montana, Colorado, West Virginia, Idaho, Georgia and Hawaii also posted yearly losses after only one state, Mississippi, had registered a yearly decline in the FHFA’s HPI for the fourth quarter of 2024.

Supporting the strength observed across Midwest census divisions, North Dakota, Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan posted the largest house price appreciation, rising 6.4%, 6.1%, 5.7% and 5.5% over the year. New York followed, with 5.3% annual growth.