After 15 years of volatility, U.S. home prices have reached a level of stability and are rising at low, single-digit rates.
Housing prices nationwide rose 4.1 percent in the 12 months through March, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller national home price index – a change of pace from double-digit percentage increases seen in 2013 and 2014.
The market has settled into “a balance in which buyers are comfortable spending what they can afford given their income and savings, but aren’t willing (or able to persuade lenders) to stretch beyond that,” according to the New York Times.
Fitch Ratings calculates that U.S. housing prices are currently 3 percent overvalued – a sustainable situation, according to the firm’s analysis, as prices were 26 percent overvalued compared to economic fundamentals in early 2006 and 7 percent undervalued at the end of 2011.