Home prices are still climbing, but the pace is slowing

by Jeff Andrews

Home prices continue to outpace last year, but at a pace that’s slowing down.

The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Home Price Index for April rose 2.7% year over year, a deceleration from 3.37% in March, 3.9% in February and 4.1% in January. It’s the first data for the Case-Shiller that includes the period after President Donald Trump’s tariff announcement on April 2, which pushed mortgage rates back up to 7%.

“While more homes are coming to market compared to a year ago, high borrowing costs and affordability barriers are tempering buyer enthusiasm,” said Realtor.com economist Anthony Smith in a statement. “Economic uncertainty and elevated rates are likely to keep housing activity slower than usual this spring.”

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Major cities continue to account for much of home-price appreciation. The 10-city composite for April rose 4.07% annually. The 20-city composite also outpaced the national number with a 3.42% jump.

Cities in the Midwest and Northeast are outpacing those in other regions. New York again led all cities in growth with a whopping 7.95% rise, followed by Chicago (6.02%), Detroit (5.5%), Cleveland (5.18%) and Washington, D.C. (4.29%).

The index for Tampa fell 2.15% annually, as the area continues to recover from Hurricane Milton last fall. Dallas — which is undergoing a post-pandemic correction — also fell year over year, but only slightly at 0.21%.

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Miami has been in something of a correction as well, but it’s up 1.38% annually for April.

The Case-Shiller index — widely considered the gold standard for measuring home prices — should provide interesting insights when May numbers are reported next month. That’s because it will have the tariff announcement and 7% mortgage rates fully baked into it.

According to the May existing-home sales report from the National Association of Realtors (NAR), conditions are ripe for softening price appreciation. Unsold inventory is up 20.3% compared to last year, but sales continue to hover just above 4 million on a seasonally adjusted annual basis.