U.S. home prices saw slower year-over-year gains in April compared to March, according to a pair of reports released Tuesday by S&P Dow Jones Indices and the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA).
The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index, which measures prices of repeat sales of single-family U.S. homes, registered a 2.7% annual gain in April, down 70 basis points from March’s 3.4% increase.
The supplemental Case-Shiller indexes focusing on the largest U.S. metropolitan areas also recorded slower year-over-year increases in April. The 10-city composite clocked in at a 4.1% annual gain in April compared to 4.8% in March, while the 20-city composite posted a 3.4% increase in April versus a 4.1% rise the prior month.
Nicholas Godec, head of fixed income tradables and commodities at S&P Dow Jones Indices, noted in a press release that April’s annual home price gains slowed to their “most modest pace in nearly two years.” He observed that regional trends reveal the Midwest and Northeast setting the pace for price increases, while the Sun Belt has cooled considerably.
“Affordability constraints have hit previously overheated markets hardest, while traditionally stable markets with more reasonable price levels are attracting renewed interest,” Godec stated.
New York City led among the top 20 metro areas with a 7.9% annual gain in home prices in April. Chicago saw prices rise 6%, while Detroit experienced a 5.5% increase. Conversely, April home prices fell 2.2% year over year in Tampa, Fla., and declined 0.2% in Dallas.
“We’re witnessing a housing market in transition,” Godec said. “The era of broad-based, rapid price appreciation appears over, replaced by a more selective environment where local fundamentals matter more than national trends.”
FHFA House Price Index dips 0.4% in April
The FHFA’s seasonally adjusted House Price Index (HPI), which uses purchase-only data provided by mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, fell 0.4% month over month in April. Like the Case-Shiller index, the HPI saw single-family home-price gains concentrated in the Northeast and Midwest, while Sun Belt states experienced broader declines.
The Middle Atlantic region — which includes New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania — had the largest monthly gain in April at 1.2%, according to the FHFA report. Meanwhile, the West South Central region — consisting of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana — posted a 1.3% decline.
On a 12-month basis, the national HPI rose 3% since April 2024. All nine of the Census divisions tracked by the FHFA registered gains during that period, led by the Middle Atlantic region at 7.4%.
