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Home-price appreciation continues to grow in 2025 and another report confirms that.
The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Home Price Index for March rose 3.37% year over year. That pace is a decrease from a 3.9% annual gain in February and 4.1% in January. Buyers and sellers in March were benefiting from falling interest rates and rapidly rising inventory.
While inventory continues to show large year-over-year gains, President Donald Trump’s tariff announcement in April pushed mortgage rates back up to 7%, which has the potential to negatively impact sales.
“It is likely that home prices will not grow as fast this year as they have over the past couple of years,” said Bright MLS Chief Economist Lisa Sturtevant in a statement. “More inventory has been coming onto the market, which gives buyers more leverage and room for negotiation.”
Home prices in major cities continue to drive the national increase in the index. The 10-city composite index is up by 4.76% annually and the 20-city index is up 4.07%. Those are both monthly gains of more than 1%.
Three of the four cities with the highest annual gain are in the Midwest, with Chicago (6.5%), Cleveland (5.9%) and Detroit (5.77%) leading the way. New York posted the largest year-over-year increase in home prices by far at 7.96%.
Florida remains the state with the most sluggish price growth. Miami has posted two consecutive month-over-month drops but is up 1.78% annually. Tampa, which is still recovering from Hurricane Milton in October, has also dropped two months in a row and is down by 2.16% compared to last year.
Case-Shiller, largely considered the gold standard for measuring home prices, will be interesting to watch over the next few months as the economic fallout of Trump’s approach to tariffs gets baked into the index.
While data for April from other reports doesn’t show much impact, uncertainty around trade policy and subsequent economic headwinds will likely have a long-tail effect.
“Popular Midwest destinations attract buyers looking for more affordability, which has kept upward pressure on home prices,” said Realtor.com Senior Economist Jake Krimmel in a statement. “Strong demand and challenging selling conditions have kept inventory levels in the Northeast from recovering, driving home prices higher.”
