Home Price Gains Are Shrinking, Could Hurt Lending

While home prices are 13% higher year over year than they were in August of 2021, but analysts are not optimistic that the trend is going in the right direction. Gains are also shrinking at the fastest rate by most calculations.

The gains are down from more than 15% in the previous month showing a downward slope.

The key reason if interest rate increases as the economy is still relatively strong, and the data show record breaking declines in terms of a month to month downward trend. Price gains fell on a national basis, and not just in key markets and would imply the housing price growth was at its highest trend about eighteen months ago.

The two hottest markets are in Florida, with Miami and Tampa topping the charts. Both San Francisco and San Diego cooled the most while actually showing year over year declines.

Monthly mortgage payments have skyrocketed year over year, hurting first time home buyers’ ability to enter into the market. Mortgage rates also limit supply because sellers may not want to lose their present locked in interest rates.

The trends are not particularly appealing for lenders no matter how one looks at the data.