Home prices in the United States may go lower since the rise in January

After consistently climbing since January, housing prices may be starting to fall again. According to Black Knight, property prices reached another all-time high in July, climbing 2.3percent over the same month last year.
This is a larger yearly rise than the roughly 1percent recorded in June, and August's annual comparison will almost certainly be considerably larger because prices began to fall rapidly last August.
However, according to Black Knight, prices have fallen month on month. While still rising, as is typical for this time of year, the advances fell short of the 25-year average. This comes after outperforming their historical averages from February through June. It indicates that a price downturn may be resuming.
"In addition to monthly rise slowing below long-term averages, Black Knight rate lock and sales transaction data also points to lower average purchase prices of homes and seasonally adjusted price per square foot among recent sales. All of these factors together highlight the importance of focusing on seasonally adjusted month-over-month movements rather than relying solely on the traditional annual home price growth rate," said Andy Walden, vice president of the research sector at Black Knight.
Mortgage rates in the United States are to blame for the cooling. They increased dramatically last summer and fall, forcing prices to plummet. They then fell throughout much of the winter and early spring, causing property prices to rise again. Rates are already back above 7percent, reaching 20-year highs in August.
In addition, new postings increased from July to August, which is unusual for this time of year. Some sellers may be attempting to profit from historically high prices. However, active inventory is approximately 48percent lower than it was from 2017 to 2019.
A price cut might provide some relief to customers, but it is doubtful. The rise in property prices since the beginning of the Covid-19 epidemic in the United States, combined with considerably higher mortgage rates, has suffocated affordability. According to Black Knight, it now takes approximately 38percent of the median household income to make the monthly payment on the median-priced home purchase. This makes homeownership the most expensive it has been since 1984.