Fannie Mae: Home Prices Up 7.4% in First Quarter

(Image courtesy of Fannie Mae)

Fannie Mae reported that single-family home prices increased 7.4% from the first quarter of 2023 to the first quarter of this year.

The data, contained in Fannie Mae’s latest Home Price Index, shows that’s up from the previous quarter’s revised annual growth rate of 6.6%.

“Home prices continued to rise in the first quarter as the housing market remained seriously supply constrained,” said Doug Duncan, Fannie Mae Senior Vice President and Chief Economist. “The stabilization of mortgage rates in the 6.6% to 6.7% range in January helped to boost demand early in the first quarter, with existing home sales and mortgage applications both rising. Mortgage rates have trended upward again of late, but there is support for home prices in strong demographic demand from younger generations. We expect home sales to rise modestly this year as potential homebuyers appear to be acclimating to the higher-rate environment and, in some cases, may be less able to put off moving for life reasons.”

On a quarterly basis, home prices were up a seasonally adjusted 1.7%. That’s flat from the growth reported in the fourth quarter of 2023. And, looking on a non-seasonally adjusted basis, home prices were also up 1.7% in the first quarter.

The index is a national, repeat-transaction home price index measuring the average, quarterly price change for all single-family properties in the United States, excluding condos.