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Hello John,
Home prices continued their steep ascent in March. The Case-Shiller U.S. Home Price Index showed that every major metro noted month-over-month price increases. Nationally, prices climbed 6.5% compared to March 2023, the same increase as the previous month. “This month’s report boasts another all-time high,” says Brian Luke, Head of Commodities, at S&P Dow Jones Indices. “We’ve witnessed records repeatedly break in both stock and housing markets over the past year. Our National Index has reached new highs in six of the last 12 months.” He added, “On a seasonal adjusted basis, national home prices have reached their ninth all-time high within the past year, with all 20 metropolitan markets posting positive annual gains for the fourth consecutive month, indicating widespread and sustained growth in the housing sector.”
California’s cities were led by San Diego’s 11.1% biggest annual gain among the 20 cities, followed by Los Angeles-Orange County; 8.8%, and San Francisco; 4.9%.
Meanwhile, the Federal Housing Financing Authority (FHFA) House Price Index shows that property prices increased 6.7% year-over-year in March.
Inventory Relief in Sight
Although this might be disheartening news for aspiring homebuyers, there is light at the end of the tunnel. The Case-Shiller Index and the FHFA HPI are lagging indicators and April data may show a different and brighter picture.
According to First American Data & Analytics’ Real House Price Index, which measures single-family home price movements, housing affordability decreased by 9% compared to the previous year pushing many house shoppers to the sidelines.
This resulted in inventory catching a bit of breathing room in the past month. Realtor.com’s April housing market report found there were 30.4% more active listings compared with the previous year, marking the sixth consecutive month of annual inventory growth. “Given the surge in mortgage rates between the end of March and the beginning of May, we expect both home price growth, inventory, and home sales to moderate in future housing market data releases,” said Realtor.com Sr. Economist Ralph Mclaughlin.
We’ll keep you updated on further developments. In the meantime, if you’d like more information about buying/selling or refinancing in today’s market, give us a call or drop us an email.
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