Home prices

The home price increases and the ongoing inventory shortage made buying conditions difficult and many think it’s only getting more challenging, according to RealtyTrac.

The U.S. housing market has been on fire, with the pandemic fueling intense demand for suburban homes. A shortage of affordable properties has pushed up prices and kept some potential buyers on the sidelines.

Price appreciation over the past year also dropped the share of underwater mortgage borrowers to an all-time low, according to CoreLogic.

Last month’s housing market reversed a trend in purchases, but it wasn’t enough to stop the double-digit price growth, according to Redfin.

Southwestern housing markets had the largest annual changes in median monthly home loan payments, with one increasing more than 30%, according to Redfin.

A rising — but still small — share of borrowers believe interest rates and housing price appreciation will fall in the next year, according to Fannie Mae.

The jump is the largest 12-month gain in the index since the series began 45 years ago.

Meanwhile, property values across the U.S. have increased for 40 quarters in a row, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller index of property values nationwide surged 18.6% in June from a year earlier, according to a statement on Tuesday.

However, with mortgage rates down and household income increasing, consumers have 129% more buying power today than they did 16 years ago, according to First American.