Starter Home Price Appreciation Ending the Year Strong

First American Data & Analytics, a division of First American Financial Corporation, has released its November 2023 Home Price Index (HPI) report.

The report tracks home price changes less than four weeks behind real time at the national, state, and metropolitan levels and includes metropolitan price tiers that segment sale transactions into starter, mid, and luxury tiers.

“This holiday season, homeowners are the ‘grinches,’ hoarding housing supply from willing buyers and keeping upward pressure on prices. However, the new year offers hope to discouraged buyers as sellers’ anchor bias to historically low mortgage rates fades and the potential for slightly lower mortgage rates further improves affordability,” said Mark Fleming, Chief Economist at First American.

The First American Data & Analytics’ non-seasonally adjusted (NSA) HPI showed that nationally in November 2023:

• Between October 2023 and November 2023, house prices increased 0.3%.
• House prices increased 7.6% between November 2022 and November 2023.
• House prices reached a new peak for the eighth month in a row in November 2023.
• House price growth reported in last month’s HPI for September 2023 to October 2023 was revised down 0.3 percentage points, from 0.4% to 0.1%.

“The October spike in mortgage rates thankfully retreated in November, providing an affordability boost to prospective buyers and fueling home price appreciation. Preliminary November results indicate that home prices increased for the eighth consecutive month,” said Fleming.

November 2023 House Price State Highlights:

The five most populous states experienced the following year-over-year growth in the HPI:

1. Pennsylvania (+8.7%)
2. Florida (+5.5%)
3. California (+4.5%)
4. Texas (+4.3%)
5. New York (+2.2%)

There were no states with a year-over-year decrease in the HPI.

November 2023 House Price Local Market Highlights:

Among the 30 Core-Based Statistical Areas (CBSAs) tracked by First American Data & Analytics, the five markets with the greatest year-over-year increase in the HPI are:

1. Anaheim, CA (+10.9%)
2. Nassau County, NY (+10.1%)
3. Cambridge, MA (+9.7%)
4. San Diego (+9.1%)
5. Miami (+9.0%)

Among the 30 Core-Based Statistical Areas (CBSAs) tracked by First American Data & Analytics, the only market with a year-over-year decrease in the HPI was Austin, Texas (-1.8%).

“Unsurprisingly, starter home prices grew the fastest in many markets. Would be first-time buyers hoping to become homeowners usually do so with a lower-priced starter home," said Fleming. “While the homeownership rate for millennials recently surpassed 50%, there are still a lot of potential buyers bidding against each other for the rare starter home that comes to market."

The next release of the First American Data & Analytics House Price Index will take place the week of January 16, 2024.

To read the full report, including more data, charts, and methodology, click here.