HousingWireHousingWire
First American Data & Analytics released its April 2025 Home Price Index (HPI) report on Tuesday, revealing that house prices nationally are now 57.2% higher compared to pre-pandemic levels. Month over month, the HPI changed +0.4% and tear over year the HPI changed by +2.0%.
The report noted that home-price growth reported in last month’s HPI for February 2024 to March 2025 was revised up by 0.2 percentage points, from +0.5% to +0.7%.
“House prices nationally reached another record high in April, but the annual growth rate has slowed to its lowest level since 2012, underscoring the ongoing rebalancing in the market,” said Mark Fleming, chief economist at First American. “Persistently high mortgage rates have tempered demand, while increased inventory has boosted supply, dragging house price appreciation down. This normalization follows the unsustainable price growth seen during the pandemic.
“Although affordability remains a challenge, slower price appreciation is encouraging for potential homebuyers as it lets their income-growth-driven house purchasing power increase.”
The HPI breaks down home-price changes at the metropolitan level into three tiers based on local market sales data: the starter tier, representing the lowest third of home sale prices; the mid-tier, representing the middle third; and the luxury tier, representing the top third of the market price distribution.
Fleming said markets with the strongest growth in the starter home-price tier are predominantly located in the Northeast or Midwest.
“These markets include Pittsburgh, Baltimore and St. Louis, markets that are attractive to potential first-time homebuyers due to their relative affordability,” he said. “However, homebuilding has also lagged in these markets, leading to high demand relative to limited supply, fueling strong house price appreciation.”
Given the high home prices, spring home-buying has been surprisingly strong, according to HousingWire Lead Analyst Logan Mohtashami. “In 2025, despite a lot of negative economic headlines, mortgage purchase application data has shown positive year-over-year growth for 14 consecutive weeks,” he wrote on May 13. “Remember, even though doom and gloom gets all the headlines, life finds a way to move forward every year.”
