After seven consecutive months of declines, the CoreLogic Home Price Index revealed a 0.8% rise in home prices from January to February and a 4.4% annual increase in U.S. home prices. Though many homebuying challenges remain amid mortgage rate volatility, falling for-sale inventory, and recent bank failures, many regional markets are seeing a promising influx of spring buyers.
Still, most Americans are pessimistic about current market conditions. In a March survey from the New York Fed, respondents reported that they expect home prices to grow 2.6% in the next 12 months, and many prospective buyers plan to wait for prices to level off before jumping into home purchases, Insider reports.
To be sure, there is a regional split in the housing market, with declines in the West and gains in the South and Southeast, Selma Hepp, chief economist for CoreLogic, wrote in a statement last week.
"But while housing market challenges remain, particularly in light of mortgage rate volatility and the ongoing banking turmoil, pent-up homebuyer demand is responding favorably to lower rates in many markets," she added.
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