For the first time in a year, annual house price appreciation accelerated in October, snapping a 10-month streak of deceleration, according to First American Data & Analytics, a national provider of property-centric information, risk management, and valuation solutions.
Santa Ana, California-based First American, a division of First American Financial Corp. (NYSE: FAF), said data showed the first uptick since November 2024. House price growth reported in last month’s house price index for August to September was revised up by 0.1 percentage point from -0.1 percent to 0.0 percent, First American said.
First American’s HPI tracks three tier at the metro level
“After 10 months of deceleration, October brought a small reacceleration in annual house price growth—the first since November 2024,” said Mark Fleming, chief economist at First American. “The uptick is modest and better characterized as price stabilization, as affordability headwinds and gradually increasing supply continue to sap price pressures. Appreciation remains close to its slowest pace since 2012 and will likely stay that way through the end of the year.”
October 2025 First American Data & Analytics Price Tier HPI Highlights[2]
| Core-Based Statistical Areas (CBSAs) Ranked by Greatest Year-Over-Year Increases in Luxury Tier HPI | |||
| CBSA | Change in Starter Tier HPI | Change in Mid-Tier HPI | Change in Luxury Tier HPI |
| New York | -0.1 percent | -1.3 percent | +14.8 percent |
| Newark, N.J. | +3.4 percent | +4.8 percent | +5.9 percent |
| Pittsburgh | +4.1 percent | +6.0 percent | +5.1 percent |
| Washington | +0.5 percent | +1.9 percent | +3.6 percent |
| Warren, Mich. | +5.9 percent | +1.6 percent | +3.4 percent |
The First American Data & Analytics HPI divides home price changes at the metro level into three price tiers based on local market sales data: starter tier, which reflects home sales prices at the bottom third of the market price distribution; mid-tier, representing home sales prices in the middle third of the market price distribution; and the luxury tier, which is home sales prices in the top third of the market.
“Local price momentum is ‘top-led.’ Across the 30 largest markets we track, price appreciation is strongest in the luxury tier, led by New York, Newark, N.J. and Pittsburgh,” Fleming said. “At the high end of the market, equity-rich buyers are less constrained by mortgage rates, as cash financing is more common. Home buyers in the starter and mid-tier segments remain more rate-sensitive and the weaker price growth in these tiers reflects the impact of still-low affordability.”
