US home prices post first annual decline since 2012

Source: Fox Business — 

The U.S. housing market posted the first year-over-year decline in home prices since 2012 as a result of higher mortgage rates. 

That’s according to a new report from real estate brokerage firm Redfin, which showed that the median U.S. home sale price fell 1.2% in February from the previous year.

“Buyers are struggling because higher interest rates have increased the cost of homeownership, and sellers are struggling because they’re still adjusting to the fact that their home won’t sell for what their neighbor’s did a year ago,” said Andrew Vallejo, a Redfin real estate agent based in Austin, Texas. “The drop in prices is bringing more house hunters off the sidelines, but they’re in no rush because rates are high and they have the upper hand.”