Home price growth drops for the 12th consecutive month

Appreciation slowdown hits the one-year mark

Home prices are still rising, but their growth has officially slowed for the 12th month in a row. According to new data, home prices grew by just 3.7 percent in March.

Slowdown hits anniversary

According to new data from CoreLogic, March marked one full year of slowing growth for U.S. home prices. They rose just 3.7 percent between March 2018 and March 2019.

Price growth is now at its lowest level since September 2012.

But buyers should act fast if they want to take advantage of slowing home prices. According to Ralph McLaughlin, CoreLogic’s chief economist, the trend might not last for much longer. McLaughlin says he expects “the slowdown to moderate or even reverse course in the second half of the year.”

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A West Coast cooldown

In the top 10 metros, home price growth averaged just 2.3 percent — a dip from February’s 2.5 percent increase.

The most significant slowdowns in growth were seen in Seattle, where home price appreciation dipped by 11.4 percent, and San Francisco, where it fell 9.9 percent. Los Angeles also saw a big decrease in growth with a 6.7 percent downslide.

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But the slowdown isn’t limited to just the West Coast. As McLaughlin explains, “While the continued cooling of the U.S. housing market has now broadened outside of the sharply cooling Pacific markets, we do expect a more favorable rate environment to emerge over the next few months … Presumably, this should help to elongate the spring home buying season into the summer, as younger homebuyers seek to take advantage of these favorable rates.”

Get today’s mortgage rates

Do you want to take advantage of cooling home prices before the trend reverses course? Then shop around and see what mortgage rates you qualify for today.