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By Kristin Myers, Editor-in-Chief

What's Happening Today

The housing market continues to run red hot as home prices jumped 20.6% in March since last year, according to the latest S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Home Price Index report out this morning. That's up from February's 20% year-over-year increase. While the average mortgage rate on 30-year fixed loans rose to over 4% by the end of March, it did not temper rising home prices.

In a different report on home prices, also out today, the Federal Housing Finance Agency found that in the first quarter of the year, home prices jumped 18.7% from the same period last year, and increased 4.6% since the fourth quarter of 2021. Many interested homebuyers are now forced into the position of not only taking on a more expensive mortgage due to higher rates, but they're also paying more due to higher prices.

But it still remains unclear how long the housing market will continue to run this hot. As mortgage rates rise, and the Federal Reserve plans more interest rate hikes in June, homebuyers could get some relief if home prices start to decline.

- Kristin

Editors' Picks

House Prices Increased at Historic Level Again in March (The Balance)

Most Student-Loan Borrowers Made No Payment During US Freeze (Bloomberg)

Facing Inflation-Weary Shoppers, Grocers Fight Price Increases (The Wall Street Journal)

Joe Biden To Meet Jay Powell Amid Concerns Over Soaring Inflation (Financial Times)

Real Estate Agents vs. Realtors: What's the Difference? (The Balance)

Buying a House Without a Realtor (The Balance)

How To Remove Late Payments From Your Credit Reports (The Balance)

Off the Charts

For house hunters waiting for the pendulum to swing in the housing market, here's a bit of welcome news: Sellers are now dropping their price as often as they were before the pandemic. As the chart below shows, 19.1% of homes for sale were reduced in price at some point in the past four weeks, the most for any four-week period since October 2019, according to data from real estate company Redfin.

Number of the Day

4.4% - That's how little income Americans saved in April, the least for any month since 2008 and a clear sign of how hard inflation is hammering budgets.