When it comes to affordability, prospective home buyers have their eye on two things: mortgage rates and home prices. Rates, of course, have been up and down lately, after rising from historic lows early last year. Home prices, on the other hand, have been fairly steady. In fact, according to the latest S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, they’ve been gradually slowing since their peak last June. Craig J. Lazzara, managing director at S&P, says the National Composite Index is down around 5 percent since then. “2023 began as 2022 had ended, with U.S. home prices falling for the seventh consecutive month,” Lazzara said. “The National Composite declined by 0.5 percent in January, and now stands 5.1 percent below its peak in June 2022.” But while prices are down from their peak, they’re still higher than last year. At the beginning of the year, they were 3.8 percent higher than one year earlier, with some cities still reporting double-digit, year-over-year increases. (source)