Annual home price gains – what changed?

Find out how the ongoing supply challenges affected prices in September

Annual home price gains – what changed?

Annual home prices in September rose 18% from a year ago as housing shortages continue to accelerate price gains.

According to CoreLogic, September home prices nudged up by 18% year over year and up by 1.1% month over month. High prices are the result of high demand for home buying and low supply levels for entry-level homes – which are pricing out many potential first-time buyers.

As the pandemic drags on, millennials continue to search for homes in more affordable metros, typically in the suburbs or exurbs, where property prices and population density are lower and single-family detached housing more common.

“The pandemic led prospective buyers to seek detached homes in communities with lower population density, such as suburbs and exurbs,” said Frank Martell, president and CEO of CoreLogic. “As we head into 2022, we expect some moderation in the current pattern of flight away from urban cores as the pandemic wanes.”

In September, home price growth of detached properties (19.6%) was 7.4% higher than that of attached properties (12.2%). Twin Falls, Idaho, posted the highest year-over-year price gain at 36.3%. At the state level, Idaho experienced the strongest price appreciation at 30.1%. Arizona and Utah followed at 29.6% and 26.2%, respectively.

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CoreLogic’s HPI forecast projects home price gains to slow to a 1.9% pace by September 2022, as homebuying activity continues to decline due to ongoing affordability issues.