Year-over-year home price gains picked up in July as low for-sale inventory levels continued to boost appreciation, according to the newest Home Price Insights report from CoreLogic.
Nationwide home prices, including distressed sales, increased by 2.5% annually in July, picking up steam after two straight months of 1.6% yearly growth. On an annual basis, home prices have now risen for six straight months, bringing them 5% higher at the end of July than they were when they hit their recent valley in February.
Month over month, prices grew by 0.4%. July’s big gain was more indicative of the impact of market conditions on prices from prior months rather than in the current landscape, according to CoreLogic chief economist Selma Hepp.
“Annual home price growth regained momentum in July, which mostly reflects strong appreciation from earlier this year,” Hepp said. “That said, high mortgage rates have slowed additional price surges, with monthly increases returning to regular seasonal averages. In other words, home prices are still growing but are in line with historic seasonal expectations.
“Nevertheless, the projection of prolonged higher mortgage rates has dampened price increase forecasts over the next year, particularly in less affordable markets. But as there is still an extreme inventory shortage in the western U.S., home prices in some of those markets should see relatively more upward pressure.”
Eleven states saw prices backtrack compared to July 2022, and each of them — Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wyoming — are west of the Mississippi River. On the flipside, Vermont (at 8.5%) had the country’s highest yearly appreciation rate, followed by neighboring New Hampshire (7.3%), New Jersey (7.3%) and Maine (7%).
Among large cities tracked by CoreLogic, Miami continued to lead the field in yearly appreciation by a large margin, with home prices growing 9% between July 2022 and July 2023. Chicago saw a 4.2% price increase during this period, while Washington, D.C., realized a 2.7% gain. Las Vegas and Phoenix, each of which saw large and rapid price increases during the COVID-19 pandemic as they drew homebuyers from pricier locales like California, are now seeing the biggest price declines (down 4.8% and 4.2% year over year, respectively).
