US Home Prices Fall 0.2% in March as Los Angeles and Dallas Join Declines

3 articles · Updated · Fortune · May 26

The S&P Case-Shiller 20-city index slipped 0.2% in March from February, its second straight monthly drop, while annual price growth slowed to 0.8%.
Momentum weakened more sharply beneath the headline: the three-month annualized rate fell to -0.2% from 2.3%, signaling the downturn is spreading beyond the Sun Belt.
Los Angeles posted a 1.6% annual decline, Washington, D.C. turned negative, and Dallas fell 1.7%, joining earlier weak spots such as Tampa, down 1.9%.
Capital Economics cut its 2026 US home-price growth forecast to 1% from 3%, saying higher mortgage rates—6.4% in March and 6.5% in April—have yet to fully hit the lagged Case-Shiller data.
The broader drag remains weak demand and a locked-up supply base: buyers stayed sidelined even when rates briefly dipped below 6%, while many owners remain reluctant to sell and give up older sub-4% mortgages.

As homeowners stay 'locked-in' by low rates, what will it take to unfreeze the American housing market?

With prices soaring in Chicago but falling in Seattle, is the U.S. housing market resetting or just reshuffling?