Home-price gains in U.S. slow as affordability pressures buyers

Home-price gains in the U.S. slowed in July as still-high mortgage rates kept would-be buyers on the sidelines while inventory piled up.

A national measure of prices rose 5% from a year earlier, according to data from S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller. That was smaller than the 5.5% annual increase in June. After seasonal adjustment, prices in July rose 0.2% from the previous month, reaching a record for the 14th consecutive time. 

"The growth has come at a cost, with all but two markets decelerating last month, eight markets seeing monthly declines, and the slowest annual growth nationally in 2024," Brian Luke, head of commodities, real and digital assets at S&P Dow Jones Indices, said in a statement Tuesday. "Overall, the indices continue to grow at a rate that exceeds long-run averages after accounting for inflation."

The index for July tracks a three-month period starting in May, when 30-year mortgage rates peaked at 7.22%, Freddie Mac data show. Borrowing costs have declined since then, but affordability remains a hurdle. With so many would-be homebuyers hesitant to jump in, competition cooled.

At the same time, the supply of homes on the market swelled. Active listings in July jumped 14% from a year earlier, and many have grown stale, according to Redfin Corp. Sales in general have been subdued after the worst spring selling season in more than a decade.

The Federal Reserve made its first interest-rate cut this month and signaled additional reductions to come, moves that may put more downward pressure on mortgage costs and help get the housing market moving again. 

With financing already considerably cheaper than it was in May, and a "high probability" of further declines, "there is a significant chance that the rate of home-price growth will bottom out over the next months and then reaccelerate at the end of the year or at the beginning of next as the purchasing power of homebuyers begins to reflect a more favorable rate environment," said Ralph McLaughlin, senior economist at Realtor.com. 

In July, a measure of prices in 20 cities rose 5.9% from a year earlier, compared with a 6.5% annual gain in June, the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller data shows. New York again had the biggest increase, with 8.8%. Following were Las Vegas and Los Angeles, with 8.2% and 7.2%, respectively.