Home prices are projected to appreciate by 4.8% nationally in 2019, with the highest increases are expected in New York, California, Nevada, Maine, Hawaii and Oregon, according to CoreLogic’s 2019 Housing Price Index Forecast. [1]
The prediction is an increase from the 12-month annualized appreciation rate of 4.7% that ended 2018.
CoreLogic stated the five states forecasted for the most appreciation include a wide array of amenities, an active lifestyle and a strong job market. CoreLogic also reported that homebuyer activity is strongest in areas that represent favorable places to live now and in the future.
Forecasts predict that 10 major core-based statistical areas (CBSAs) will perform very well. Each of the CBSAs—all of which are located in California—are expected to appreciate more than 10% year-over-year at the end of the year.
The top-10 CBSAs with the highest forecasted growth are: Chico; Salinas; Santa Maria-Santa Barbra; Modesto; Bakersfield; Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura; Sacramento-Roseville-Arden Arcade; Vallejo-Fairfield; San Francisco-Redwood City-South San Francisco; and San Louis Obispo-Paso Robles-Arroyo Grande.
Smaller populated areas in New York, Nevada, Maine, Alabama, Michigan, Missouri, Oregon, Utah, Arizona and Florida are also forecasted for 10% appreciation. All these cities share high qualities of life, coastal locations and string job markets.
This report comes shortly after the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) [2]reported that home prices increased by 0.3% in February from January and increased 4.9% from February 2018 to February 2019.
The East-South-Central Division (Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky) saw an increase in price changes from 6.1% from 2017–2018 to 6.4% over the past year, according to the FHFA.
A Redfin report [3] this month detailed the East Coast’s improving home market, stating that while several West Coast markets saw declines in home sale prices, markets in the Eastern U.S. saw home sale prices jump as much as 20%.