U.S. Home Prices Rise at New Record Rate, Case Shiller Shows: Massachusetts HomeBuyers HomeSellers

The numbers: U.S. home prices rose again in March even as higher mortgage rates began to bite, leaving prices at all time highs. The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller twenty city price index was up a record 21.2 percent year over year while the federal government’s price tracker climbed nineteen percent in the same span.

The Case Shiller index rose 3.1 percnet in March compared to the prior month. A separate report from the Federal Housing Finance Agency showed a 1.5 percent monthly increase.

The big picture: The record increases in home prices over the past few years is bound to slow with the Federal Reserve raising interest rates. The cost of a thirty year fixed mortgage has almost doubled to about 5.25 percent from 2.75 percent last fall.

High prices and higher mortgage rates have made buying a home more unaffordable. What’s more, there’s still a lack of homes for sale and builders are facing bigger expenses for labor and materials. Even so, strong demand for housing is likely to keep prices elevated.

Key details: The year over year increase in the twenty city Case Shiller prices index bested the previous record of 20.3 percent in February. Phoenix once again recorded the highest rate of home price rises in the in the country in March, according to the Case-Shiller report. Prices were up a whopping thirty two percent from one year ago.

 Dallas also posted a 30.7 percent increase in the past year. The smallest increases were largely in older cities in the Northeast and Midwest such as Washington, Boston-Ma, New York, Minneapolis and Chicago. Still, prices were up 12.9 percent in Washington, which had the smallest year over year gain.

Looking ahead: Demand is waning evident in weakening purchase applications and home sales in response to sharply higher mortgage rates, which should provide some relief on prices,” said Rubeela Farooqi, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics. “Even so, for now, prices are showing little sign of abating.”

Market reaction: The Dow Jones industrial Average and S&P 500 fell in Tuesday trades.

The post U.S. Home Prices Rise at New Record Rate, Case-Shiller Shows appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®.

Who Pays the Home Buyer's Agent?

Both seller's agent fees and buyer agent's fees are part of a typical real estate transaction and are included in the final negotiated purchase price of the property. There should be no additional fees to the buyer for a buyer's agent above and beyond the negotiated purchase price of a home unless specifically agreed in writing between the buyer and agent before an offer is made.

In most cases, the seller's agent pays the buyer's agent for bringing the buyer, negotiating the purchase price and terms, writing a legally correct offer, coordinating inspections, responses, and financing plus handling numerous additional details on the buyer's side of the transaction.

Buyers should avoid contacting seller's agents and sellers directly unless they are comfortable negotiating and representing themselves. That is why it is important for buyers to choose their agents BEFORE they begin looking at homes or as soon as possible if they have begun looking.

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