by While home prices in most states rose during the 1st quarter, appreciation slowed from its pandemic-era housing boom
WASHINGTON — Many view investments — including a house — as a bank account of sorts, thus allowing themselves to feel wealthy at least on paper and spend accordingly.
Of course the true value of a house is never seen until it’s sold, the point at which the money is invested elsewhere, likely in another house or perhaps in a retirement community.
But the sense of wealth one gets from homeownership or the equity in one’s home often helps justify purchases for the home such as furniture or appliances whether with cash or credit. Stating the obvious, the availability of lower or zero percent financing indeed helps justify consumers’ spending as much as they can on these and other purchases.
Increasing home values often play a role here as well. But a recent report from the National Association of Home Builders offered a somewhat sobering look at home price appreciation by state. The key takeaway is that while home prices continued to rise during the first quarter, appreciation slowed from its record pace during what it described as the “pandemic-era housing boom.”
Citing House Price Index data from the Federal Housing Finance Agency, it said that national house prices rose 1.7% during the first quarter of 2026 compared with the same period last year. While seemingly positive, the report also said this was the slowest year-over-year appreciation since the second quarter of 2012. By comparison, it noted, house prices only increased .5% from the fourth quarter of 2025.
During the height of the pandemic, home values rose as much as 55%, according to the NAHB, which compares to a more historical appreciation between 4% and 5% a year.
Also, the NAHB report noted that overall, one-third of the 100 largest metro areas experienced annual price declines in the first quarter of 2026. The remaining two-thirds had either positive appreciation or flat price growth.
It attributed the slowdown largely to higher mortgage rates, affordability challenges and overall softer demand, which also have had many builders offering price concessions on new residential construction over the past year or more.
“Many of the markets that experienced some of the strongest price growth during 2021-2022 continue to face affordability pressures and softer buyer demand,” the report said.
Year-over-year declines in price appreciation occurred in states such as Colorado (-2.4%), Texas (-1.6%), the District of Columbia (-1.4%), California and Florida (each – .5%), Washington state (-.4%) and Utah (-.1%), while other states had appreciation of less than 1% including North Carolina and Georgia (+.1%), Montana, Oklahoma and Arizona (each up .2%), and Maryland and Oregon (+.6%).
Wyoming was flat, with no change at 0% appreciation.
Among the states/regions with the highest levels of appreciation in the first quarter were Illinois (+7.3%), Alaska (+5.5%), Vermont (+4.9%), Connecticut (+4.7%), New Jersey (4.5%) and Puerto Rico (+16.3%).
Housing appreciation in other states can be found at this link. Click on each state to see how it compared to the overall gains.
The good news is that houses in most states are still appreciating in value, creating an opportunity for retailers to capture some of the business that is created when people choose to invest in furniture and other improvements to one’s home. Savvy marketing will encourage homeowners to take that leap with value-oriented products they can pay for over time as their home continues to appreciate in value even at a slower pace.
There is nothing here to suggest that buying a home — or furniture for that matter — is a bad investment. In fact, both remain key to economic growth and personal fulfillment.
