Declines in Property Pricing Slow Further in January

The annual rate of decline in U.S. property prices slowed further at the start of 2024, MSCI Real Assets said Thursday The RCA CPPI National All-Property Index fell 4.7% in January from a year ago and 0.1% from December. Prices were falling at an annual pace of around 11% in July and August of last year.

“Talk in recent months about potential rate easing by the Federal Reserve appears to have impacted property pricing,” according to MSCI Real Assets. As a case in point, apartment prices dropped 7.9% in January compared to the year-ago period, an improvement from an annual decline of about 14.1% in August 2023.

The industrial sector was the only sector to post positive annual growth in January, rising 1.4% from a year earlier. MSCI Real Assets reported that industrial prices rose 0.2% from December and have posted month-over-month increases since June of 2023.

Outside of industrial, retail was the only property sector to post positive month-over-month growth in prices, rising 0.1% in January. Although retail prices still fell 3.6% from a year earlier, the trend has been improving, with the rate of decline moderating for a sixth consecutive month.