Waning demand cools home price growth in August

But annual appreciation accelerates to its fastest pace in a year: Redfin

Waning demand cools home price growth in August

But annual appreciation accelerates to its fastest pace in a year: Redfin
Waning demand cools home price growth in August

An early indicator of U.S. housing trends in August showed national home prices barely budged as affordability pressures continue to weigh on demand.

Home prices rose about 0.25% on a monthly basis, Redfin said Tuesday, compared to monthly growth of 0.26% in July and 0.27% in June.

However, the listings platform and online real estate brokerage also reported that the 3.7% increase in national home prices from a year ago was the fastest pace of annual growth in a year.

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“Slowing price growth is good news for buyers because it means waiting for the right home is less likely to come with a rapidly rising price tag,” explained Chen Zhao, head of economics at Redfin, in the report.

The company attributed the monthly slowdown in prices to an imbalance in the number of active sellers and buyers in the market. Redfin says August represented the “strongest buyer’s market on record,” with approximately 158 sellers for every 100 prospective buyers.

From an affordability standpoint, however, many typical buyers remained priced out of the market as mortgage rates have surged this year and home prices remain stuck near historically high levels.

Average mortgage rates for typical 30-year home loans ended August around 6.8%, according to Mortgage Bankers Association data. In February, rates briefly crossed below the 6% threshold before the Iran war sent inflation soaring and caused consumer sentiment to plummet, hurting home sales.

But the median existing-home sales price still set an all-time record of $440,600 in June, according to the National Association of Realtors, as a longstanding shortage of single-family homes has kept a floor under prices despite slow demand.

Redfin says home prices rose in about half of the 50 most populous U.S. metros on a seasonally adjusted monthly basis in August. St. Louis posted the largest increase in home prices at 1.1%, followed by Pittsburgh at 1% and 0.9% growth in San Antonio, Baltimore and San Jose, Calif.

Home prices clocked their largest monthly declines in Austin, Texas, and Charlotte, N.C., falling 0.7% each in August. Milwaukee home prices slid 0.6%, as did prices in Warren, Mich. Home prices in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., declined 0.5%.

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