House Prices Are Falling

Home prices have fallen in most of the country’s 50 largest metropolitan housing markets in the past month, according to the latest data from Zillow, despite inventory remaining historically low and keeping prices relatively high.

According to the real estate listing and brokerage website’s Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI), which provides a seasonally adjusted measure of home values in the U.S., prices have fallen in 45 out of the 50 metro areas examined by the company month-over-month in January 2024.

Though it may not be good news for homebuyers just yet.

Journalist Lance Lambert, who compiled the data—without seasonal adjustment—for Residential Club, shared on X, formerly known as Twitter, a table showing the changes in prices in the 50 metro areas.

According to the ZHVI, home values fell in the following metro areas between December 2023 and January 2024.

• Hartford, CT (-0.2 percent)
• Providence, RI (-0.5 percent)
• Boston, MA (-0.4 percent)
• Los Angeles, CA (-0.1 percent)
• San Jose, CA (-0.1 percent)
• Milwaukee, WI (-0.6 percent)
• Philadelphia, PA (-0.2 percent)
• Cleveland, OH (-0.7 percent)
• Buffalo, NY (-0.7 percent)
• Chicago, IL (-0.4 percent)
• Columbus, OH (-0.3 percent)
• Cincinnati, OH (-0.4 percent)
• Virginia Beach, VA (-0.2 percent)
• Detroit, MI (-0.5 percent)
• St. Louis, MO (-0.5 percent)
• Kansas City, MO (-0.2 percent)
• Pittsburgh, PA (-0.6 percent)
• Richmond, VA (-0.3 percent)
• Louisville, KY (-0.5 percent)
• Washington, D.C. (-0.2 percent)
• Baltimore, MD (-0.3 percent)
• Charlotte, NC (-0.3 percent)
• Atlanta, GA (-0.3 percent)
• Orlando, FL (-0.2 percent)
• Oklahoma City, OK (-0.3 percent)
• Seattle, WA (-0.3 percent)
• Tampa, FL (-0.5 percent)
• Phoenix, AZ (-0.2 percent)
• Indianapolis, IN (-0.2 percent)
• Sacramento, CA (-0.3 percent)
• Raleigh, NC (-0.3 percent)
• Portland, OR (-0.4 percent)
• San Francisco, CA (-0.6 percent)
• Minneapolis, MN (-0.8 percent)
• Birmingham, AL (-0.6 percent)
• Denver, CO (-0.4 percent)
• Nashville, TN (-0.4 percent)
• Salt Lake City, UT (-0.5 percent)
• Memphis, TN (-0.6 percent)
• Houston, TX (-0.1 percent)
• Dallas, TX (-0.2 percent)
• Jacksonville, FL (-0.6 percent)
• San Antonio, TX (-0.5 percent)
• Austin, TX (-0.6 percent)
• New Orleans, LA (-1.1 percent)

Home values went up month-over-month in January only in San Diego, CA (0.2 percent), New York, NY (0.1 percent), Riverside, CA (0.2 percent), and Las Vegas, NV (0.1 percent). In the metro area of Miami, FL prices were unchanged.

Newsweek contacted Zillow for comment by email on Monday early morning.

These modest drops are not necessarily good news for aspiring homebuyers. Lambert commented on the data saying that “it’s normal for January prices to be down a little month-over-month,” while February and March “is when the seasonal pickup usually starts in this type of data line.”

The situation is different when considering the year-over-year scenario, with 47 of the 50 largest markets in the U.S. being higher in January 2024 and only Austin, San Antonio and New Orleans still falling. These cities, which were once considered pandemic boomtowns, have seen some of the most dramatic price corrections in the months between late summer 2022 and spring 2023, and continue to see home values falling.

The recent data for the largest metro areas in the U.S. reflects the situation in the entire country. The average home value in the U.S., according to Zillow’s latest data, was $342,941 as of January 31, 2024—up 3.1 percent year-over-year and 0.12 percent from the previous month.