February saw the highest year-over-year house price growth rate on record

February 2022 saw annual house price growth of 19.6%, according to mortgage monitor Black Knight’s report – the highest rate on record since the company began looking at this data in 2000, a similar conclusion has been reached. was recorded by data firm CoreLogic: “National home prices rose 20% year-over-year in February 2022, according to the latest CoreLogic Home Price Index reportyou. The February 2022 home price index gain was up from the 10% gain in February 2021 and was the strongest 12-month growth in the US index since the series began in 1976.” Additionally, each of the 100 markets measured by Black Knight recorded double-digit annual growth in February. “This is the first time this has happened,” writes Black Knight. And ¾ of those markets are still seeing home prices accelerate, even as interest rates continue to rise, with pros saying this will continue through 2022. (You can see the lowest mortgage rates you can qualify for here.)

But growth is not universal and, in fact, in some major cities, growth is much slower than average. Minneapolis, Chicago, Baltimore and Milwaukee are among the slowest growing cities, with an annual house price growth rate of 11% or less. Meanwhile, in these five cities, home prices have risen at rates of 31.5% or more: Tampa, Austin, Raleigh, Phoenix and Nashville.

10 markets with the weakest house price growth

Annual house price growth rate, by market (only the first 100 markets measured)

10 markets with the fastest growing house prices

Annual house price growth rate, by market (only the first 100 markets measured)

Source: Dark Knight

What puts these fast-growing versus slower-growing spots in such stark contrast to each other? An important factor is the local labor market, says Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the National Association of Realtors. “Austin has created jobs at a high rate over the past decade and continues to do so. In contrast, job creation in Chicago has been slower,” Yun says. Exchange rate analyst Jeff Ostrowski adds “Rising home prices in Austin are the result of an increase in well-paying tech jobs, and California-based tech companies have opened offices there as an alternative to sky-high prices in Silicon Valley.”You can see the lowest mortgage rates you can qualify for here.)

Some markets had experienced significant growth earlier. “New York, Boston and Washington saw big increases in home values ​​in the decades leading up to the pandemic, so some people may move elsewhere for cheaper housing. But the appreciation of real estate prices creates its own dynamic. Prices in California continued to soar long after the state became unaffordable, and prices in places like Milwaukee, Cleveland and Detroit stayed low for decades,” says Ostrowski. Real estate attorney Michael Romer points out that many cities that have seen house price growth at a relatively slower pace were already very expensive before the pandemic. “Any price growth from high levels is likely to be much smaller, in percentage terms, than growth from a lower baseline,” says Rober.

And yet another factor is the increased ability of some people to live further away from their jobs. “As remote working becomes a staple of our society, the workforce has realized that they don’t have to live close to where they work, resulting in a higher cost of living and many have decided to move to more rural areas with a lower cost of living,” says real estate lawyer Pierre Debbas.

Whatever the reasons, one thing is clear: it’s hard to afford a house these days. “Affordability is now the worst it has ever been outside of 2004-2007,” Black Knight writes.