The country’s best bargain
If you’re looking to avoid skyrocketing home prices, then try heading north. According to new data from the Federal Housing Finance Agency, that’s the only part of the country where prices are bucking national trends – and actually falling month over month.
Prices up – except in the North
According to the FHFA’s most recent House Price Index, the West North Central part of the country is the only one of nine Census divisions to see a drop in prices over the year. From September to October, prices in the region fell 0.4 percent. Over the year, the region’s prices climbed 4.8 percent – the lowest annual jump out of all divisions.
Seeking affordability: Home prices most likely to drop in North
States in the West North Central division include North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas and Missouri.
Month-over-month prices remained steady in the Pacific region, which includes Hawaii, Alaska, Washington, Oregon and California. Simultaneously. prices in the West South Central and South Atlantic divisions climbed just 0.1 percent. States in these areas include Oklahoma, Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida and Washington, D.C.
Year over year
As a whole, the country saw home prices rise 6.6 percent since October 2016. Comparatively, that’s nearly twice the growth rate seen in 2000, when prices rose just 3.5 percent over the year.
The biggest annual jumps occurred in the Pacific and Mountain regions, which saw increases of 8.7 percent and 8.2 percent, respectively. The Mountain region includes Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico.
Are home prices finally dropping? They just might be
Though the West North Central had the smallest year-over-year jump in prices, the West South Central and Middle Atlantic regions weren’t far behind. The Middle Atlantic division includes New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Get today’s mortgage rates
Do you want to buy in one of these lower-priced regions before prices climb again? Then shop around for your mortgage rate today.
