Let’s start with the aggregate, or national, house price index (HPI) for single-family homes. The benchmark price of a home fell to $748,800 in December, dropping 1.2% (-$9,200). Since peaking in March 2022, the national index has plummeted 18.8% (-$181,400). At this point, it’s a little shy of being a “crash.”
A crash is a technical term for asset prices falling more than 20% from its peak within a 12-month period. At this pace, just one more month like December would be enough to make that happen. Right now, 20 cities have HPIs that would meet this criteria when it comes to single-family homes.