Black Knight released their Home Price Index for November and December, and home values rose 0.1% in each of those months. Prices were also 5.6% higher than in December 2022. CoreLogic also released their latest Home Price Index, which showed that national home values fell 0.1% from November to December. While this monthly figure was slightly different than Black Knight’s, CoreLogic’s 2023 level of appreciation was nearly equivalent, with home values up 5.5% last year.
CoreLogic forecasts that home prices will fall 0.2% in January and rise 2.8% in the year going forward, though it’s worth noting their forecasts tend to be on the conservative side historically. For example, CoreLogic originally forecasted that we would see 3% appreciation in 2023 but we saw 5.5%. Plus going back to 2021, they had forecasted a 6.6% decline in home values, and we saw a nearly 19% gain instead.
What’s the bottom line? The rise in home prices reported by CoreLogic and Black Knight has been echoed by other major indices like Case-Shiller and the Federal Housing Finance Agency, showing that now remains a great opportunity for building wealth through real estate. CoreLogic’s Chief Economist, Dr. Selma Hepp, also noted that “home prices will continue to extend to new highs entering the typically busy spring homebuying season.”