The housing market continued to cool in March, with home prices posting yet another weak annual increase, according to the latest S&P Cotality Case-Shiller National Home Price NSA Index released Tuesday.

The March S&P Cotality Case-Shiller Home Price Index saw a 0.7% year-over-year gain in home prices, down from a 0.8% rise in February. Month-over-month, the index fell 0.2%, down from last month’s rise of 0.1%.

Nicholas Godec, head of Fixed Income Tradables & Commodities at S&P Dow Jones Indices, noted that “more than half of major U.S. metropolitan markets posted year-over-year price declines in February, signaling that the housing slowdown has broadened well beyond its Sun Belt origins.”

“The S&P Cotality Case-Shiller National Home Price Index rose just 0.7% year-over-year in February, down from 0.8% in January,” he continued. “With consumer inflation at 2.4%, U.S. home values have lost ground in real terms for nine consecutive months.”

As for individual cities, the seasonally adjusted 10-City Composite saw a 1.4% year-over-year gain (down from 1.5% in February and 1.7% in January), and a 0.2% month-over-month decrease (down from a 0.1% increase the prior month).

The seasonally adjusted 20-City Composite grew 0.8% year-over-year (down from 0.9% in February), and saw a 0.03% decrease month-over-month (up from a 0.05% decrease). 

Breaking it down geographically, Chicago led the pack in the 20-City Composite with a 6.1% year-over-year price gain, followed by New York and Cleveland with annual gains of 4.0% and 3.0%, respectively.

On the opposite end, Seattle’s 2.5% year-over-year decline was the steepest in March, with Denver (-2.0%), Tampa (-1.9%), Dallas (-1.7%) and Phoenix (-1.6%) joining Seattle among the weakest performers.

Realtor.com® Senior Economist Anthony Smith noted that the “8.6-percentage-point gap separating Chicago from Seattle underscores how localized this housing cycle has become.”

“Looking ahead, mortgage rates have risen to 6.51% as of late May, pushed higher by renewed inflation concerns and elevated energy prices. The rate environment has shifted meaningfully from the brief sub-6% window earlier this year, introducing fresh headwinds as the spring market ramps up,” he continued. “At the same time, inventory is running above year-ago levels in many markets, and affordability has continued to subtly improve as incomes outpace home price gains. In supply-constrained markets, price growth is likely to hold even as the national picture continues to cool.”

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