5.5% is the historical average house price appreciation
With monthly data extending back to 1975, the House Price Appreciation Indicator (HPAI) provides a comprehensive data set for understanding historical trends at the national, state, and metro levels.
We analyzed the HPAI data to answer the basic question: what is the average growth rate of house prices?
Nationally, the average 12-month change in house prices is 5.5%.

At the state level, the average house price growth ranged from a low of 3.3% in West Virginia to a high of 7.2% in California.

Methodology TL;DR
We started with the raw HPAI, which measures the cumulative monthly log change in house prices.
We then calculated the 12-month change.
We used the 16% trimmed mean to estimate the central tendency to minimize the effect of outliers.
Finally, we converted the log change to a percent change.
About the House Price Appreciation Indicator
The House Price Appreciation Indicator (HPAI) by HousingIQ is a monthly gauge of underlying house price changes at the national, state, and metro levels. Implemented as a dynamic factor model, it synthesizes multiple public and private data sources to provide a timely and actionable summary of ground truth. With data extending back to 1975, the HPAI powers comprehensive and granular insights into the US housing market for investors, lenders, sellers, and buyers.
Contact us to learn how you can make better-informed decisions about the housing market with HousingIQ’s reliable and up-to-date information.