New Home Price Insights for August 2023

CoreLogic has released its latest iteration of their Home Price Index covering August 2023 which found overall the index is beginning to regain upward momentum after hitting an 11-year low earlier this year. 

While the index did hit a low point this spring, U.S. home prices have now increased year-over-year for 139 straight months. In addition, home prices are now up 40% compared to March 2020 when the pandemic began ravaging the country physically and economically. 

Home price gains were recorded at their highest level since February 2023, coming in at an appreciation rate of 3.7% during the month of August. 

Eight states, mostly in the West, saw year-over-year home price declines, the fewest since February 2023. Of large metro areas, Miami continued to lead the country for annual home price growth, with an 8.3% gain. 

The median sales price of single-family homes remained under historical highs, coming in at $375,000, with California ($705,000), the District of Columbia ($630,000) and Massachusetts ($585,000) again leading the nation. 

Meanwhile, housing markets in New England are starting to heat up, with New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont and Rhode Island seeing the largest year-over-year price gains in August. 

“While continued mortgage rate increases challenge affordability across U.S. housing markets, home price growth is in line with typical seasonal averages, reflecting strong demand bolstered by a healthy labor market, strong wage growth and supporting demographic trends,” said Selma Hepp, Chief Economist for CoreLogic. “Still, with a slower buying season ahead and the surging cost of homeownership, additional monthly price gains may taper off.” 

Other top takeaways from the report, as highlighted by CoreLogic, include: 

• U.S. home prices (including distressed sales) increased by 3.7% year over year in August 2023 compared with August 2022. On a month-over-month basis, home prices rose by 0.3% compared with July 2023. 
• In August, the annual appreciation of detached properties (3.7%) was 0.2 percentage points higher than that of attached properties (3.5%). 
• CoreLogic’s forecast shows annual U.S. home price gains at 3.4% by August 2024. 
• Miami posted the highest year-over-year home price increase of the country's 20 tracked metro areas in June, at 8.3%. St. Louis saw the next-highest gain (6.4%), followed by Charlotte, North Carolina (5.4%). 
• Among states, New Hampshire ranked first for annual appreciation in July (up by 9.4%), followed by Maine and Vermont (both up by 8.9%). Eight states recorded home price losses: Idaho (-4%), Montana (-2.7%), Nevada (-2.3%), Utah (-2%), Washington (-1%), Arizona (-0.9%), Texas (-0.4%) and New York (-0.2%). 

Click here to see the report in its entirety.