These March numbers are really January-March average numbers so they only catch the beginning of the Covid Market.

Detroit data was NOT updated for March due to delays processing records in Wayne County caused by Covid-19.

Going into the Covid Crisis, none of the metros covered by Case-Shiller saw a decline in real, inflation-adjusted house prices. (We don’t have March data for Detroit yet.)

Phoenix saw a 7% real, inflation-adjusted house price increase over the previous 12 months!

For the U.S. as a whole, real inflation-adjusted house prices were up 3% from a year earlier.

House Price Momentum

House prices were continuing to gain upward momentum in March. Prices increased more the last 12 months compared to the previous 12 months in 11 cities covered by Case-Shiller. Prices increased more slowly in only 3 metros. (We don’t have March data for Detroit yet.)

Price Appreciation Trends

To give you an idea of how hot the real estate market was in some places before Covid-19, the 12-month house price appreciation in March was the highest since 2016 for Phoenix and Washington DC.

Seattle continued it’s wild price rebound.

The U.S. was seeing 12-month house (nominal) price appreciation running at 3% from last May through November but from December 2019 through March 2020 it’s been running at 4%.

I expect this to fall, of course, but since it’s a 12-month measure, it will fall slowly.

Note. You can find interactive versions of these charts for all 20 Case-Shiller metros here.

The March 2020 data is the latest available from Case-Shiller as I write this on May 26. The data is a 3-month moving average so what they call March is really the January-March average. The graphics here always show the most recent data available but the text here was written on May 26, 2020.

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