The numbers: U.S. home prices rose in April as the housing market remains frozen by a lack of for-sale listings.
Homeowners’ unwillingness to sell is pushing up home prices, despite elevated mortgage rates. The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-city house price index rose 0.9% in April, as compared to the previous month.
Home prices were strongest in the Southeast, while the rest of the country saw declines.
Though mortgage rates are still hovering around 7%, rates have not dampened buyer demand, as they’ve adjusted to higher rates.
Year-over-year appreciation in home prices in April was down 1.7%, accelerating from a dip last month of 1.1%.
A broader measure of home prices, the national index, rose month-over-month in April by 0.5%, but was down 0.2% over the past year.
All numbers are seasonally adjusted.
Key details: The Southeast is no longer the only place where people can find home price growth, with Chicago joining the ranks of the top three cities with the highest year-over-year gains among the 20 cities in April. Tampa took the top spot, while Atlanta ranked third.
The West coast continued to lag behind the rest of the country: Home prices fell in Seattle and in San Francisco the most.
| Cities | Change from last year |
| Atlanta | 3.5% |
| Boston | 0.9% |
| Charlotte | 3.4% |
| Chicago | 4.1% |
| Cleveland | 2.9% |
| Dallas | -2.9% |
| Denver | -4.5% |
| Detroit | 1.1% |
| Las Vegas | -6.6% |
| Los Angeles | -3.2% |
| Miami | 5.2% |
| Minneapolis | 0.0% |
| New York | 3.0% |
| Phoenix | -6.1% |
| Portland | -5.2% |
| San Diego | -5.6% |
| San Francisco | -11.1% |
| Seattle | -12.4% |
| Tampa | 2.4% |
| Washington | -0.5% |
| Composite-20 | -1.7% |
A separate report from the Federal Housing Finance Agency also showed home prices rising in April, up 0.7% from March. Home prices were the strongest in New England, according to the government’s data.
And over the last year, the FHFA index was up 3.1%.
Big picture: Housing is facing a crisis of demand and supply, but it’s broadly recovered as buyers are adjusting to the new normal of high rates.
There’s a shortage of homes for sale and there’s too much demand from aspiring homeowners to purchase homes. Homeowners feel no compulsion to sell. There’s little incentive for homeowners to give up their ultra-low mortgage rate for a home loan that’s in the 7% range.
New home sales have been a bright spot for home shoppers as homebuilders add inventory, bringing some options to the market.
What S&P said: “The ongoing recovery in home prices is broadly based,” Craig J. Lazzara, managing director at S&P DJI, said.
Home prices in 19 out of the 20 major cities rose in April, he noted, when looking at seasonally adjusted data.
Looking at the list of the top-performing cities, there is “remarkable diversity,” Lazzara added. New York and Cleveland inched up to spot five and six.
Market reaction: Stocks DJIA, -0.04% SPX, -0.45% were trending down before the market opened on Tuesday The yield on the 10-year Treasury note TMUBMUSD30Y, 3.808% rose above 3.7%.