U.S. Home Prices Rose in April Despite Pressure from COVID-19, Radian Home Price Index Reveals

Home prices across the United States rose at an annualized rate of 6.1 percent in April 2020 from March 2020, according to Radian Home Price Index (HPI) data released today by Red Bell Real Estate, LLC, a Radian Group Inc. company (NYSE: RDN). The Radian HPI is the most comprehensive and timely measure of U.S. housing market prices and conditions.

The Radian HPI also rose 7.9 percent year-over-year (May 2019 to April 2020), which was slightly higher than the year-over-year increase of 7.7 percent recorded last month. While the impact of COVID-19 on real estate prices will be more visible over the coming months, more than six weeks into a near-national shutdown and widespread stay-at-home mandates, home prices have remained resilient, thus far.

The Radian HPI is calculated based on the estimated values of more than 70 million unique addresses each month, covering all single-family property types and geographies.

“While recent data showed that the volume of new listings and real estate closings fell in many parts of the U.S. from mid-March through the end of April, sellers have clearly not hit the panic button. While the potential impact on the housing market of COVID-related disruptions has yet to be fully understood, historically low mortgage rates, ongoing inventory shortages, and regional differences in the virus’s severity have put many markets on a pause as opposed to a downward push,” said Steve Gaenzler, senior vice president of Data and Analytics at Radian. “And unlike the Great Recession, which was preceded by a substantial over-inflation of housing, 2020 began with reasonably priced markets being the norm, not the exception,” Gaenzler added.

NATIONAL DATA AND TRENDS

• Median home price in the U.S. rose to $253,878
• Home prices rose an annualized 5.6 percent over the last three months

Nationally, the median estimated price for single-family and condominium homes rose to $253,878. Across the U.S., home prices have increased consistently since the low the Radian HPI recorded in the second quarter of 2012. On an annualized basis, home prices nationally rose 5.6 percent over the last three months, slightly lower than the 6.3% reported for the first three months of the year. The spring season came early in many markets, as buyer demand competing for low seasonal inventories led to improving price appreciation earlier than normal. However, more recent slowdowns in real estate activity may be reducing the rate of price appreciation now in some metropolitan areas.