Buying a house gets even more expensive

Home prices increased for ten Aprils in a row and hit their highest-ever tally for the month this year, according to the NAR.

• Home prices climbed to record highs for April, according to the National Association of Realtors.
• The median home price in April was $407,600.
• Americans have been struggling to find affordable homes to buy, with prices and interest rates high.

Home prices reached record highs in April, according to a new report from the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

The median price of an existing home climbed 5.7% year-over-year in April to $407,600, keeping pressure on prospective homeowners already dealing with high interest rates.

According to the NAR, that's the tenth month in a row of year-over-year increases and the highest-ever tally for the month of April.

Home prices rose despite the relatively flat total number of existing home sales in April (4.14 million).

"Home sales changed little overall, but the upper-end market is experiencing a sizable gain due to more supply coming onto the market," the NAR's chief economist Lawrence Yun said in a statement.

While there are some brighter spots in the market with lower down payments, overall, home affordability has plunged since the pandemic with rocketing mortgage rates and high property prices driven by nationwide supply shortages.

The trends have now made renting more affordable than buying in most major cities — with landlords emerging as major winners.

If you're hoping for a drop in interest rates soon, you may need to keep waiting. This week, Federal Reserve governor Christopher Waller said the government will need to see "several months" more of signs that inflation is cooling before lowering rates.

The Fed had jacked up interest rates to combat a surge in inflation. But while rates have remained high, so have inflation indicators and consumer prices.