00:00:00 Brad Smith
House prices are at an all-time high, and the latest reading from the S&P Case Case National Home Price Index shows that potential buyers are taking a tough road here. To break down the report, we have Claire Boston, Yahoo Finance Senior Housing Reporter. Claire, what is the latest house price movement at present?
00:00:25 Claire Boston
Hi Brad. So in March we made a national gain of 3.4% compared to the same period last year. This is actually a little higher than the 4% in February. So we still see house prices still rising, but growth is slowing. And, this 3.4% slowdown is a little bit larger than economists expect. Another thing I'm looking for now is that that month, the price actually dropped a little, down 0.3% nationwide. But that's another sign that the market is slowing even if things are still very, very expensive.
00:01:21 Brad Smith
Do you think this will affect the spring and summer home buying seasons? I think we are now at the informal start of summer.
00:01:38 Claire Boston
Yes, so this data starts in March. So if you remember March, we are not surprised yet. Well, we do have more data on what it would be like to buy a home in spring. Many signs point to a rather slow market. So, it is possible that we may continue to see slowdowns in the coming months, or even a month of price declines.
00:02:15 Brad Smith
More data here. Zillow and Redfin, both expect home values to fall by about 1% this year. Will the buyer be better?
00:02:34 Claire Boston
You know, it's really hard to say. Well, you know, I've been talking about the regionality of the housing market. Well, and you know, when you look at this case seat data, house prices in places like New York are up 8%. Chicago grew nearly 6%. Uh, but you look at places like Tampa, prices are down. So it really depends on where you are and what your market is doing. Well, you know, it's hard to say now. This is a weird market.
00:03:17 Brad Smith
Thank you very much, Claire. Thanks for it.
00:03:21 Claire Boston
Thanks.
