Understanding the Freddie Mac House Price Index (FMHPI®)
The Freddie Mac House Price Index (FMHPI®) provides a month-by-month measure of U.S. home price trends by tracking repeat sales of the same properties, making it a more reliable indicator of true price movement than median or average prices. Updated through December 2025 and released at the end of January, the index shows that national home prices remain roughly 52% above January 2020 levels, highlighting how much of the pandemic-era appreciation is still embedded in the broader U.S. housing market.
Austin stands in sharp contrast. Home prices in the Austin metro are now down approximately 20.2% from their May 2022 peak, representing the deepest correction among major U.S. markets tracked in the index. Prices are also down about 5.7% year over year, and month-over-month pricing declined again in December, confirming that downward price pressure is still working through the market.
Understanding the Freddie Mac House Price Index (FMHPI®) and Its Impact on the Austin Housing Market – December 2025 Update
The latest Freddie Mac House Price Index confirms that Austin remains the most pronounced example of a post-pandemic housing correction among major U.S. metro areas. Home prices in the Austin metro are now approximately 20.2 percent below their May 2022 peak, marking the deepest peak-to-trough decline tracked in the index. This compares to a modest average pullback across major metros, underscoring how differently Austin has behaved relative to the national housing market.
Scroll down to view the full Freddie Mac House Price Index report for December 2025.
On a year-over-year basis, Austin home prices are down roughly 5.7 percent, while many large metro areas continue to post flat or modestly positive annual gains. Monthly pricing also weakened again in December, reinforcing that downward price pressure has not yet fully worked through the market. Rather than stabilizing, Austin’s price trend continues to reflect a slow but persistent normalization following one of the fastest appreciation cycles in the country from 2020 through early 2022.
Even with the ongoing correction, Austin home values remain well above pre-pandemic levels. Since January 2020, cumulative price appreciation in the Austin metro totals just over 32 percent, confirming that a significant portion of the pandemic-era gains is still embedded in the market. However, Austin now trails several peer metros that experienced steadier and more durable growth, including Miami, Charlotte, and Providence, where cumulative appreciation since early 2020 exceeds 60 percent.
At the national level, home prices remain well above January 2020 benchmarks, highlighting a growing divergence between Austin and the broader U.S. housing market. While many regions appear to be settling into a more stable pricing environment, Austin continues to adjust as excess appreciation from the pandemic boom is gradually unwound. The Freddie Mac House Price Index reinforces that this process is still underway, positioning Austin as one of the clearest examples of a market moving through a full post-cycle reset rather than a short-term pause.
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