Home price appreciation is finally showing signs of slowing down after accelerating massively over the last two years.
A report from CoreLogic this week shows that home prices rose by 20.2% in May, compared with the same month last year. While that’s still pretty rapid growth, CoreLogic said an analysis of the data shows there are reasons to think home price acceleration is about to slow down, and it’s forecasting appreciation to dip to just 5% by this time next year.
According to the report, recent increases in mortgage interest rates have contributed to a slowdown in home price appreciation.
CoreLogic’s report states that mortgage rates sat at 5.81% as of June 23, according to Freddie Mac’s PMMS mortgage survey. Back in January, mortgage rates were hovering at just 3.22%. CoreLogic said the increase in mortgage rates have only added to growing affordability problems, with more buyers being priced out of the market. As a result, it expects buyer demand to lessen and put the brakes on home price growth.
Selma Hepp, deputy chief economist at CoreLogic, described the coming cooldown as a welcome “recalibration” of the market that will restore balance between buyers and sellers.