Annual Home Prices Fall for First Time in 6 Years, but There’s a Catch

After six years of consecutive annual home price increases, the housing market posted its first decline since 2017 in June with median listing prices falling from the June 2022 all-time record high of $449,000 to $441,000, according to Realtor.com.

While home prices are slowly decreasing, affordability challenges persist for homebuyers priced out by mortgage rates, which averaged 6.67% for the week ending June 22. In addition, limited for-sale supply will keep competition fierce, which will likely prevent home prices from slipping during the remainder of the year.

“Home price growth is expected to decline at a modest rate of 0.6% for the year,” Realtor.com Chief Economist Danielle Hale predicts in her analysis

All in all, this month’s pivotal price drop is not quite enough to revive buyers or the housing market to its previous levels.

“Despite the decline in prices,” Hale says, “the ongoing challenges in housing markets and stagnant buying power are anticipated to result in a 15.8% decrease in home sales for 2023.”

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