Home prices are going up, rising at an annualized rate of 4.5 percent in May 2020 from April 2020, according to the latest Radian Home Price Index (HPI). Year-over-year from May, the Radian HPI increased 7.8 percent—a little lower than the 7.9 percent reported last month.
The median home price in May was $254,826, according to Radian. The South and Northeast exhibited the largest changes. The West saw an actual 12-month price appreciation rate (+6.1 percent)—higher than its annualized change from April to May (+5.5 percent), but lower than the 3-month rate of 6.9 percent. Comparatively, the South recorded a 12-month appreciation rate of 6.8 percent but was only able to generate a 2.5 percent annualized growth rate in May.
All of the 20-largest metro areas of the U.S reported positive price appreciation in May, but all were at slower rates than reported in April.
The weakest metros in May based on their annualized growth are:
– Washington, D.C. (+0.0 percent)
– Los Angeles (+1.9 percent)
– Baltimore (+2.1 percent)
– Miami (+2.1 percent)
The strongest metros are Minneapolis, Seattle, New York and St. Louis, all with greater than 6.4 percent growth in May.
“Home price gains across the U.S. slowed in May, a month typically known for accelerating activity; however, the month also recorded additional reversals in some of the recent, negative real estate transactional data trends,” noted Steve Gaenzler, SVP of data and analytics. “Nationally, the weekly counts of properties going ‘under contract,’ a leading indicator to closings and sales, ended the month with higher levels than in the same period of 2019. In addition, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported that applications for new mortgages were accelerating during the month and that the rate of new forbearance requests had begun to decline towards the end of the month.”
Gaenzler also added that “softer home price appreciation across the U.S. compared to the prior month suggests that the full impact of COVID nationally or locally on home prices may not yet be felt, but we are encouraged by some of our leading indicators.”
Source: Radian
