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Research Assistant
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Nationally, home prices grew significantly over the last half-decade, following years of decline in the aftermath of the housing crisis. But these broad indicators mask significant variation by region, market, and even neighborhood. While these trends were discussed extensively in this year's State of the Nation's Housing report and on our blog, those analyses focused almost exclusively on the roughly 62 million homeowners living within metropolitan areas, where 83 percent of the country's owner-occupied units are located.
But what about home prices in the largely rural, non-metro areas that are home to about 15 percent of the population? Due to limited data availability, these areas often are ignored in discussion about trends in home prices. A new Joint Center analysis of the FHFA House Price Index, which measures price changes from the sale, refinancing, and appraisal of the same properties, seeks to fill this gap. In particular, the analysis examined house prices for all counties outside of Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs). (Metro-area counties are those that contain an urbanized area of at lease 50,000 persons plus any adjoining counties that commuting patterns show are economically integrated with their metropolitan neighbors.)
Several key findings emerge from this analysis, most notably:
- Rather than stagnating, home prices outside the metropolitan areas grew considerably between 2000 and 2016. In nominal terms, non-metro home prices grew 58 percent and real non-metro home prices grew nearly 15 percent. Moreover, by the fourth quarter of 2016, nominal non-metro and rural home prices were two percent above their pre-recession peak—the same as national home prices at the same point. However, when adjusted for inflation, home prices in non-metro areas were still 11 percent below their peak, which again, is somewhat similar to national patterns (Figure 1).
Note: The US non-metro index is a weighted-average of state non-metro HPIs, with each state's value weighted by its share of non-metro detached single family housing units. Real home prices are adjusted for inflation using the CPI-U for All Items less shelter.
Source: JCHS tabulations of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, All-Transactions House Price Index.- While significant, these increases were more modest than the gains experienced by the nation as a whole. Nationally, real home prices grew 23 percent in 2000-2016, about 8 percentage points more than prices in non-metro areas (Figure 2). The difference is largely due to the more modest cyclicality of non-metro home prices movements during and after the recession. In the immediate aftermath of the housing crisis, national home prices fell severely for several years before starting to rise steadily in early 2012. In contrast, home prices in non-metro areas were mostly stagnant from 2011 to 2014, and, compared to metro areas, have grown less quickly since. As a result, between 2012 and 2016, the percentage-point increase in non-metro home prices was greater than the percentage-point increase in statewide prices only in Alaska, Hawaii, Mississippi, Montana, and Nebraska.
Note: The US non-metro index is a weighted-average of state non-metro HPIs, with each state's value weighted by its share of non-metro detached single family housing units. Real home prices are adjusted for inflation using the CPI-U for All Items less shelter.
Source: JCHS tabulations of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, All-Transactions House Price Index.- Rural home price trends by state vary widely. While non-metro home prices within states generally change in ways that are similar to the broader state-wide trends, increases in rural areas did not always trail overall increases in their states (Figure 3). Rather, from 2000 to 2016, the increase in non-metro house prices actually exceeded statewide prices increases in 24 of the 47 states where at least some part of the state was not in an MSA. (Three states—Delaware, New Jersey, and Rhode Island—do not have non-metro areas.)
The gaps were largest in North Dakota (13 percentage points greater), Nebraska (12 percentage points greater), South Dakota (11 percentage points greater), New Mexico (7 percentage points greater), and Louisiana (6 percentage points greater). In contrast, the increases in statewide prices most exceeded rural prices in coastal states, where prices in metropolitan areas have grown significantly. The gaps were greatest in California (26 percentage points), Hawaii (23 percentage points), Virginia (22 percentage points), Oregon (19 percentage points), and Maryland (18 percentage points).
- Non-metro home prices rose more slowly in the run-up to the housing crisis, and rarely fell as far in the aftermath. Between 2000 and 2007, real non-metro home prices increased by 28 percent, far less than the 41 percent increase for all single-family homes. However, in about half of the 47 states with non-metro areas, the percent increase for all single-family homes. However, in about half of the 47 states with non-metro areas, the percent increase in non-metro home prices exceeded states-wide home-price gains in the run-up to peak. After the crash, real national home prices fell below 2000 levels briefly in 2012, while non-metro prices remained about three percent above their 2000 levels. Moreover, this pattern held true in most states. In only 10 of 47 states were the recessionary-low home prices (relative to 2000) in non-metro areas lower than for the state overall.
- Unclear signals for the future. While this analysis shows that non-metro house prices generally follow national patterns, since the recession price growth in rural areas has been slower than in the nation as a whole. The homeownership rate in non-metro areas was also about 71 percent in 2015, nearly 9 percentage points higher than in metro areas. These differences held across racial and ethnic groups, as well as for low- and moderate-income households. Collectively, this indicates that these markets merit close attention in the coming years.
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