The average house price has risen almost 50% on a national basis since the start of the pandemic. But that’s too broad a blanket and doesn’t account for regional variation, Capital Economics’ property economist, Thomas Ryan, suggests in a new note.
It’s housing markets across the South that Ryan predicts will continue to “lead the pack” in terms of appreciation. Home prices rose 74% in Miami, 71% in Tampa, and 62% in Charlotte since December 2019, just months before the onset of the pandemic. It’s reflective of a “boost to housing demand from strong economic in-migration,” Ryan wrote. And to his point, home prices in San Francisco only rose 29%, 30% in Minneapolis, and 33% in Washington, D.C.—slower than Southern metros, but much more rapid compared to pre-pandemic norms.
