(NewsNation) — Elevated mortgage rates and economic uncertainty have sidelined buyers, and for the first time in years, home prices are starting to slip.
According to the Redfin Home Price Index, U.S. home prices dipped 0.1% in April on a seasonally adjusted basis — the first monthly drop since September 2022.
Though small, the decline reflects a broader shift in the balance of power, with buyers starting to regain leverage in many major markets.
In April, prices fell month over month in half of the 50 largest metros, led by Charlotte (-1%), Virginia Beach (-1%) and Miami (-0.7%), per Redfin’s index.
Flattening home prices provide further evidence that the 2025 spring homebuying season could be the slowest in years. The typically busy period is already off to a sluggish start, as uncertainty around President Trump’s tariffs weighs heavily on consumer confidence.
“There’s a general feeling of anxiety in the housing market because no one knows what they’re going to read in the news when they wake up,” Dan Close, a Redfin Premier real estate agent in Chicago, said in a report this week.
The supply of homes for sale is now at a five-year high, and more sellers are offering concessions to get deals done, according to Redfin.
Still, affordability remains a challenge. On a year-over-year basis, home prices were up 4.1% in April, according to Redfin’s Home Price Index. While that’s the slowest annual price growth since July 2023, it hardly suggests that homeownership is becoming more attainable for most families.
As with all things in real estate, conditions vary by market, and in many metros, prices continued to climb in April.
Prices rose fastest in Nassau County, New York (1.8% month over month); Warren, Michigan (1.3%); and New York (1.2%).
In cities like Detroit, New Brunswick and Philadelphia, home prices are up more than 12% year over year, Redfin found.
The Redfin Housing Price Index reflects seasonally adjusted changes in the prices of single-family homes. It tracks how sale prices have changed over time by comparing a home’s most recent sale to its previous sale.
