Home prices

Despite the surge of inventory, the number of available homes is still below pre-pandemic levels, while price movements show wide regional variations, ICE Mortgage Technology said.

An index of contract signings from the National Association of Realtors dropped 7.7% to 72.3, the lowest reading since the early months of the pandemic.

Prices in a measure of 20 cities increased 7.4% from a year earlier, larger than the 7.3% annual gain in February, an S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller index shows.

Contract closings decreased 1.9% from a month ago to a 4.14 million annualized rate, according to National Association of Realtors data released Wednesday.

Compared to a year ago, investors bought a greater number of properties and made up a larger share of overall purchases, returning to the market faster than individual buyers, according to Redfin.

A loan that combines features of buy-before-you-sell offerings and home equity solutions might be the type of financing needed for buyers to compete in current and future housing markets, Calque's founder says.

Out of the 221 metro areas tracked, 205 had existing home price increases and just 15 reported year-over-year declines, the National Association of Realtors said.

Price growth is decelerating but still driving historic home equity gains for owners and widening the gap between the haves and have-nots in housing, ICE finds.

Prices nationally climbed 6.4% from a year earlier, an S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller index shows. That's larger than the 6% annual gain in January. 

A majority of consumers earning more than $100,000 annually said they were concerned about their own ability to purchase a home, demonstrating how affordability issues are impacting those at many socioeconomic levels, the University of Michigan study found.