U.S.
home
prices
continued
to
climb
in
March
as
a
persistent
shortage
of
homes
for
sale
helped
to
buoy
the
housing
market,
according
to
the


Intercontinental
Exchange
(ICE)
Home
Price
Index.

And
while
prospective
homebuyers
cope
with
the
challenges
of
rising
housing
unaffordability,
existing
homeowners
are
reaping
the
benefits
of
historically
strong
price
gains.
Nationwide
equity
on
mortgaged
homes
soared
to
a
record
$16.9
trillion
in
the
first
quarter
of
2024,
with
$11
trillion
available
for
leverage
while
maintaining
a
20%
equity
cushion
—
also
an
all-time
high.

The
ICE
index
showed
that

home
prices
increased
by
a
seasonally
adjusted
0.42%
month
over
month
in
March,
marking
the
third
consecutive
month
of
above-average
price
gains,
although
this
was
a
slight
pullback
from
February’s
0.58%
increase.
On
an
annual
basis,
home
price
growth
eased
slightly
in
March
to
5.6%,
below
the
upwardly
revised
gain
of
6%
in
February.

“The
recent
trend
of
rising
interest
rates
has
dampened
homebuyer
demand
and
allowed
the
inventory
of
homes
for
sale
to
improve,”
Andy
Walden,
ICE’s
vice
president
of
enterprise
research
strategy,
said
in
a
statement. 

“We’re
still
very
much
in
a
hole
from
an
inventory
perspective,
but
that
deficit
has
fallen
from
50%
a
year
ago
to
38%
in
March.
Today,
with
3.3
months
of
supply,
inventory
is
still
historically
low
and
indicative
of
a
seller’s
market.
This
is
helping
to
keep
home
price
growth
resilient
even
though
demand
is
down.
In
fact,
despite
some
minor
slowing,
March
marked
the
third
consecutive
month
of
stronger
than
average
growth.”

About
48
million
U.S.
homeowners
with

mortgages
have
tappable

equity.
And
the
average
amount
of
tappable
equity
per
borrower
increased
to
$206,000
in
March,
up
from
$185,000
at
the
same
time
last
year.

Two-thirds
of
all
tappable
equity
is
held
by
homeowners
with
credit
scores
of
760
or
higher,
while two-thirds
is
held
by
homeowners
with
first-lien
mortgage
rates
below
4%,
and
84%
is
held
by
those
with
rates
lower
than
5%.

Five
West
Coast
metros
—
Los
Angeles,
San
Francisco,
San
Jose,
San
Diego
and
Seattle
—
account
for
nearly
one-quarter
of
total
tappable
equity,
according
to
ICE.
Mortgage
holders
in
these
West
Coast metros
hold
a
cumulative
$2.7
trillion
in
tappable
equity,
but
they
also
tend
to
have
first-lien
interest
rates
well
below
the
national
average
due
to
more
frequent
refinance
activity
across high-balance
loans. 

New
York
City
and
Washington,
D.C.,
meanwhile,
account
for
another
$1.1
trillion
in
tappable
equity.
For
these borrowers,
second-lien
home
equity
products
remain
a
particularly
attractive
option
for
tapping
into
significant
amounts
of
housing
wealth
without
sacrificing
a
historically
low
rate
on
their
existing
mortgage.

In
April,
the


Federal
Housing
Finance
Agency
(FHFA)

announced
a
new
product
proposal
for
government-sponsored
enterprise
(GSE)


Freddie
Mac
that
would
allow
the
agency
to
purchase
certain
single-family,
closed-end
second
mortgages.
This
would
offer
borrowers
an
alternative
way
to
access
their
home
equity
without
surrendering
a
first
mortgage
with
a
more
favorable
interest
rate
than
is
currently
available.

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