Home Prices Keep Rising but No Longer at a Record Pace

Over the last few months, home prices have been rising faster than they have in decades. But it appears that prices may be beginning to calm down a bit. That’s not to say that prices aren’t still rising, because they are, but the speed at which home prices are increasing seems to be slowing down.

According to new data from the Federal Housing Finance Agency, nationwide home prices rose 1% in January over December, a smaller increase than there had been in six months.

“While house prices experienced historic growth rates in 2020 and into the new year, the monthly gains appear to be moderating,” said Dr. Lynn Fisher, FHFA's Deputy Director of the Division of Research and Statistics.

“House prices increased by 1% in January, which is relatively still high, but represents the smallest month-over-month gain since June 2020,” Fisher added.

Nationwide, home prices were up month-over-month in each of the Census divisions except for the East South Central division, which includes Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Tennessee. In that region, prices actually fell by 0.2%.

Despite the relatively small monthly increase, nationwide home prices were still up 12% from January 2020 to January 2021.