Home price increases slowed slightly in April, S&P Case-Shiller says

Home price increases slowed down very slightly in April, but it is the first possible sign of lower prices.

Prices rose 20.4% nationwide in April compared to the same month last year, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Index. in March , Home prices increased by 20.6%.. The last slight slowdown was in November last year.

The 10-city compound annual increase was 19.7%, up from 19.5% in March. The 20-city composite posted an annual gain of 21.2%, up from 21.1% in the previous month.

In a change from the past five months, when most of the 20 cities saw monthly price gains, only nine saw prices rise faster in April than they did in March. Cities in the South continued to post the strongest monthly gains, including Charlotte, North Carolina; Tampa, Florida; Atlanta, Dallas and Miami.

“April 2022 showed initial (albeit inconsistent) signs of a slowing rate of home price growth in the United States,” Craig Lazzara, managing director of S&P DJI, wrote in a statement. “We continue to see very broad strength in the housing market, with all 20 cities posting double-digit price increases over the 12 months to April. The April price increase ranked first in the top quintile of each city’s historical experience, and in the top 19 decimal places “.

Tampa, Miami and Phoenix continued to lead the group with the strongest price gains. Home prices are up in Tampa, with a staggering 35.8% year-over-year price increase, followed by Miami, with a 33.3% increase, and Phoenix, with an increase of 31.3%. Nine of the 20 cities reported higher price increases in the year ending April 2022 than in the year ending March 2022.

The cities with the lowest gains, although still in the double digits, were Minneapolis, Washington and Chicago.

Not only are these April price gains, but the index is a three-month moving average. average price on Fixed 30-year mortgage It just crossed the 5% mark in April after rising from about 3% in January. By June, it had exceeded 6%.

“Last month we noticed that mortgage financing has become more expensive as the Federal Reserve raises interest rates, a process that was just beginning when the April data was collected,” Lazarra said. “A more challenging macroeconomic environment may not support extraordinary house price growth for much longer.”

housing market Already cooling, with slowing sales and reports of lower prices among some sellers. The supply of homes for sale has also increased steadily, as more listings are being put on the market and homes already in existence for longer. Active inventory was 21% higher last week than it was in the same week a year ago, according to Realtor.com.

“For buyers and sellers, the way forward will require more pricing flexibility, honing of negotiation skills, and acknowledgment that market conditions today are even different than they were six months ago,” said George Ratio, chief economist at Realtor.com.