US single-family home prices ease on a monthly basis in April
An outright decline in house prices is unlikely
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[WASHINGTON] US single-family house prices eased on a monthly basis in April, but remained supported by a shortage of homes for sale.
House prices dipped 0.1 per cent after an upwardly revised 0.2 per cent rise in March, the Federal Housing Finance Agency said on Tuesday (Jun 30). Prices were previously reported to have edged up 0.1 per cent in March.
The drop in monthly house prices likely reflected weak demand as the US-Israel war with Iran boosted oil prices, driving up inflation and mortgage rates. The average rate on the popular 30-year fixed-rate mortgage has increased by about 50 basis points since the conflict started at the end of February, data from mortgage finance agency Freddie Mac showed. It averaged 6.49 per cent last week.
An outright decline in house prices is unlikely. House prices increased 2.0 per cent in the 12 months through April, after advancing 1.8 per cent in March.
There is a national housing shortage, especially of starter homes. The National Association of Home Builders estimates the housing shortfall at about 1.2 million homes. The US Congress last week passed a Bill to make housing affordable, by, among other things, restricting single-family homeownership by Wall Street investment firms and waiving or speeding up environmental reviews for construction projects.
US President Donald Trump has refused to sign the Bill in an attempt to pressure his fellow Republicans to pass voting restriction measures he favours.
Monthly house prices dropped 0.8 per cent in the Mountain region. Prices also declined in the East South Central, Pacific, East North Central and South Atlantic regions. But they increased 1.0 per cent in New England and rose 0.4 per cent in the Middle Atlantic region.
Prices gained 0.1 per cent in the West North Central and West South Central regions. On a year-over-year basis, prices increased in all nine census divisions, rising 4.4 per cent in the East North Central region and advancing 4.2 per cent in New England. REUTERS
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