US: Home Prices Broke A Decade-long Increase

The median existing-home price in the US was $363,000 in February which is down 0.2% from February 2022. This is the first time ever that home prices have seen a decline since February 2012.

A decade of the year-over-year increase in home prices is the longest on record and the prices fell more than a year. The prices of homes have fallen 5.6% in the West, and 4.5% in the Northeast. Housing is expensive in the West and Northeast.

The prices are still climbing from last year in the South and the Midwest. They were up 2.7% in the South and 5% in the Midwest.

The chief economist for NAR, Lawrence Yun said that this is not the bottom for prices, but they expect a continuing price correction. Also, they are not expecting prices to crash. There is a decrease in the median but it is almost close to nothing.

US home sales surged in February after a full year of decline due to a spike in mortgage rates. February also marks the end of longes streak of month-to-month declines in home sales. The sales of existing homes went up 14.5% in February from January.