Home prices in the U.S. rose for a third straight month, pushed up by growing buyer demand for a tight supply of listings.
A national gauge of prices increased 0.5% in April from March, according to seasonally adjusted data from S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller.
The U.S. is in what’s traditionally its busiest homebuying season, with only about half the properties that were listed for sale in spring 2019. The inventory shortage is keeping a lid on transactions, but shoppers determined to seal a deal are often forced to pay more than the asking price in many areas of the country.
“The ongoing recovery in home prices is broadly based,” Craig Lazzara, managing director at S&P Dow Jones Indices, said in a statement Tuesday.
On a year-over-year basis, prices slipped 0.2%, compared with a 0.7% increase in March. Miami, Chicago and Atlanta reported the highest annual gains among the 20 largest cities.
The housing market is still adjusting to mortgage rates that have about doubled from early 2022, cutting into affordability for would-be buyers and discouraging current homeowners from moving.
Continued improvement “will depend on the how well the market navigates the challenges posed by current mortgage rates and the continuing possibility of economic weakness,” Lazzara said.
