Hike In Home Prices Slows After A Decade

The median price of a US home was lower this February than it was in February 2022, ending more than a decade of year-over-year increases, the longest on record, according to a National Association of Realtors (NAR) report, Anna Bahney reported for CNN Business.

Photo Insert: The median existing home price was $363,000 in February, down 0.2% from a year ago.

The median existing home price was $363,000 in February, down 0.2% from a year ago. This marks the first monthly year-over-year price decline since February 2012.

"This is not the bottom for prices," said Lawrence Yun, chief economist for NAR. "We expect a continuing price correction, but we are not expecting prices to crash."

The median decrease is so small, he said, it is essentially flat. But it marks the first technical drop in median home prices that is expected to continue. "Could we see 5% decline? Sure, but we could also see 5% increase. My forecast has prices declining 2% this year," he said.

But home sales vaulted higher, marking the largest monthly percentage increase since July 2020, which itself was an anomaly of the pandemic as some restrictions loosened that month to allow a backlog of sales.

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