USA Today
WASHINGTON (Reuters) — U.S. house prices soared more than 12.5% on average over the past year, but slower gains in the first quarter of 2006, combined with declines in some states, point to weakness in the market, a government report showed Thursday.
While prices continued to march higher in many areas, they declined in some states in the first quarter for the first time in more than three years, the report said.
“These data show average housing prices still growing stronger than some might have expected,” said James Lockhart, acting director of the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight. “They do indicate, however, that price growth is moderating in some parts of the country, particularly in areas where prices have been rising the most.”
Prices rose 2.0% in the USA during the first quarter of 2006 — for an annualized rate of 8.12%. That quarterly rate is the lowest since the first quarter of 2004, according to OFHEO.
The U.S. housing market, after a run-up that shattered construction and sales records, began to slow as mortgage rates started to climb last year. Recent economic data, including a new report on pending home sales in April, have pointed to moderation in sales activity, and Thursday’s data from OFHEO signaled price softening underway.
Arizona again posted the strongest gains over the 12 months, with house prices up 32.8%. But even that large increase was smaller than the state’s previous rates of annual appreciation.
What’s more, Arizona’s quarterly appreciation slowed significantly, to 3.8% in the first three months of 2006 from 7.4% in the last three months of 2005.
Florida markets continued to post strong price gains, with the state home to 10 of the 20 U.S. metro areas with the strongest appreciation over the past year. Overall, Florida home prices rose 26.6% over the past year, bringing the 5-year gain to 111.5%.
Besides Arizona and Florida, Hawaii, Oregon, Maryland, Idaho and Washington, D.C., all recorded price gains of more than 20% over the past year.
But the report showed cooling in the most recent quarter. Price gains from the fourth quarter of 2005 to the first quarter of 2006 were smaller than previous quarterly appreciation rates.
In Iowa and South Dakota, in fact, prices declined in the first quarter, the report said.
In another 12 states, quarterly price gains were less than 1%.
Another report also indicated a slowing housing market.
Pending sales of U.S. homes fell in April for the third month in a row, indicating slower purchase activity ahead, a trade group said.
|
House price appreciation by state |
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|
State |
12 months |
Q1 |
5 years |
Since 1980 |
|
Arizona (AZ) |
32.8% |
3.8% |
93.5% |
309.8% |
|
|
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|
Florida (FL) |
26.6% |
4.3% |
111.5% |
363.7% |
|
|
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|
Hawaii (HI) |
25.0% |
5.0% |
113.4% |
424.7% |
|
|
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|
Oregon (OR) |
21.0% |
3.8% |
58.6% |
315.9% |
|
|
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|
District of Columbia (DC) |
20.8% |
1.5% |
124.0% |
518.6% |
|
|
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|
Maryland (MD) |
20.5% |
3.2% |
101.3% |
409.4% |
|
|
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|
Idaho (ID) |
20.3% |
3.3% |
50.9% |
216.2% |
|
|
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|
Washington (WA) |
19.4% |
3.8% |
56.4% |
346.7% |
|
|
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|
California (CA) |
19.2% |
2.5% |
115.2% |
534.1% |
|
|
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|
Virginia (VA) |
18.1% |
2.7% |
83.4% |
350.6% |
|
|
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|
Nevada (NV) |
17.1% |
2.9% |
106.1% |
309.6% |
|
|
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|
New Mexico (NM) |
15.9% |
2.8% |
45.3% |
203.2% |
|
|
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|
Delaware (DE) |
15.6% |
2.6% |
72.2% |
389.6% |
|
|
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|
New Jersey (NJ) |
14.9% |
2.2% |
86.4% |
464.0% |
|
|
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|
Utah (UT) |
14.7% |
3.1% |
28.5% |
216.8% |
|
|
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|
Montana (MT) |
13.9% |
1.2% |
53.0% |
243.4% |
|
|
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|
Alaska (AK) |
13.5% |
1.2% |
51.0% |
161.4% |
|
|
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|
Wyoming (WY) |
13.5% |
2.8% |
53.8% |
141.5% |
|
|
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|
Vermont (VT) |
12.7% |
1.6% |
64.5% |
339.0% |
|
|
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|
United States |
12.5% |
2.0% |
57.3% |
293.8% |
|
|
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|
Pennsylvania (PA) |
12.5% |
2.1% |
55.1% |
291.5% |
|
|
||||
|
New York (NY) |
12.4% |
1.9% |
74.5% |
546.6% |
|
|
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|
Louisiana (LA) |
11.5% |
3.1% |
35.4% |
127.6% |
|
|
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|
Connecticut (CT) |
11.2% |
1.8% |
65.1% |
373.2% |
|
|
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|
WestVirginia (WV) |
10.6% |
1.1% |
35.5% |
126.6% |
|
|
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|
RhodeIsland (RI) |
10.6% |
1.9% |
98.7% |
507.2% |
|
|
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|
Maine (ME) |
9.8% |
1.7% |
65.4% |
406.7% |
|
|
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|
Illinois (IL) |
9.3% |
1.7% |
43.6% |
266.2% |
|
|
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|
North Dakota (ND) |
9.3% |
0.6% |
36.6% |
134.3% |
|
|
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|
Alabama (AL) |
9.1% |
1.4% |
27.9% |
168.4% |
|
|
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|
South Carolina (SC) |
9.1% |
1.8% |
30.5% |
199.5% |
|
|
||||
|
New Hampshire (NH) |
8.5% |
1.3% |
66.2% |
402.9% |
|
|
||||
|
Arkansas (AR) |
8.4% |
1.9% |
30.8% |
148.9% |
|
|
||||
|
North Carolina (NC) |
8.3% |
1.7% |
27.0% |
215.0% |
|
|
||||
|
Tennessee (TN) |
8.3% |
1.5% |
26.0% |
185.2% |
|
|
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|
Mississippi (MS) |
8.3% |
1.6% |
24.7% |
132.3% |
|
|
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|
Wisconsin (WI) |
7.5% |
0.9% |
37.5% |
225.9% |
|
|
||||
|
Minnesota (MN) |
7.1% |
0.9% |
50.1% |
270.6% |
|
|
||||
|
Missouri (MO) |
7.0% |
1.4% |
34.5% |
194.8% |
|
|
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|
Oklahoma (OK) |
6.7% |
0.8% |
25.9% |
94.4% |
|
|
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|
Massachusetts (MA) |
6.5% |
0.6% |
62.4% |
635.7% |
|
|
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|
Georgia (GA) |
6.5% |
1.4% |
28.3% |
227.3% |
|
|
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|
South Dakota (SD) |
6.1% |
-0.1% |
30.3% |
170.1% |
|
|
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|
Texas (TX) |
5.9% |
1.1% |
21.5% |
107.3% |
|
|
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|
Kentucky (KY) |
5.5% |
0.9% |
24.6% |
180.1% |
|
|
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|
Colorado (CO) |
5.1% |
0.2% |
24.8% |
259.4% |
|
|
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|
Iowa (IA) |
4.8% |
-0.4% |
23.5% |
144.0% |
|
|
||||
|
Kansas (KS) |
4.5% |
0.4% |
24.0% |
135.7% |
|
|
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|
Nebraska (NE) |
4.5% |
0.7% |
21.9% |
152.9% |
|
|
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|
Indiana (IN) |
4.2% |
0.4% |
18.2% |
155.3% |
|
|
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|
Ohio (OH) |
3.3% |
0.5% |
19.8% |
172.5% |
|
|
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|
Michigan (MI) |
2.9% |
0.2% |
21.6% |
223.4% |
|
|
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|
Period ended March 31 |
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