Home price growth stalls as market cools

Home price growth just about froze this winter. 

Two leading reports Tuesday showed sluggish home price appreciation nationwide from January to February, alongside modest year-over-year growth. The Federal Housing Finance Agency found home prices rose just 0.1% monthly in February, while the S&P Corelogic Case-Shiller index recorded seasonally adjusted 0.3% growth. 

Both indexes described a 3.9% national annual home price gain in February. According to Case-Shiller, that was slower than the 4.1% year-over-year home price growth in January. Nicholas Godec, head of fixed income tradables and commodities at S&P Dow Jones Indices, said in a press release that prices were showing resilience.

"Buyer demand has certainly cooled compared to the frenzied pace of prior years, but limited housing supply continues to underpin prices in most markets," he said.

Shoppers dealing with steep unaffordability enjoyed a reprieve in February, when earlier economic uncertainty briefly sent mortgage rates tumbling. The market has since shown mixed signals with climbing mortgage rates and see-sawing purchase activity.

Home prices retreated to start the year in the Pacific and Mountain regions, where the FHFA showed 0.8% and 0.7% monthly price declines. Only the New England region enjoyed home price growth greater than 1%, at 1.3% between January and February. 

Gains were healthier on an annual basis. Homeowners in the Middle Atlantic region recorded the largest annual home price appreciation in February of 7%, according to the FHFA. The Case-Shiller Index reported prices in New York and Chicago climbing 7.7% and 7% annually, respectively. 

Perennial hotspot Tampa, Florida meanwhile posted the lowest return on annual home price appreciation, with values falling 1.5% for February according to Case-Shiller. Recent research by Redfin suggested home prices are softening in some of the nation's most populous metros over economic uncertainty and increasing inventory.