Mortgage rates are lower, home prices are easing and there is more supply on the market for sale. All of that adds up to improved affordability for today’s homebuyers. Saving for a down payment, however, is still the biggest hurdle for first-time buyers. Prices nationally are basically flat compared with where they were a year ago, according to Parcl Labs, which runs daily studies of U.S. home prices. They dipped into negative territory earlier this month and are now just 0.3% higher year over year. The latest S&P Cotality Case-Shiller home price index, which reflects pricing from October, showed large disparities among metropolitan markets. Of the top 20 markets it highlights, Chicago; New York; and Cleveland had the biggest gains. Meanwhile eight cities showed prices in negative territory, with Tampa, Florida; Phoenix; and Dallas seeing the biggest losses. “National home prices also continue to lag consumer inflation, as October’s CPI is estimated around 3.1% (based on a provisional index the U.S. Treasury announced due to the federal data shutdown) – roughly 1.8 percentage points higher than the latest housing appreciation. In real terms, that gap implies a slight decline in inflation-adjusted home values over the past year,” explained Nicholas Godec, head of fixed income tradables and commodities at S&P Dow Jones Indices, in a release.Mortgage rates, too, are coming down. The average on the 30-year fixed mortgage is currently at 6.19%, according to Mortgage News Daily. It started this year well over 7%. That decline means significant savings for homebuyers. For example, for a buyer putting down 20% on a $410,000 home (right around the national median), the monthly payment today is $200 less on average than it would have been a year ago. Weaker pri …
