By Kristin Myers, Editor-in-Chief

What's Happening Today

In good news for all interested home buyers, rising home prices slowed in April, according to the latest S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Index. Home prices jumped 20.4% in April from last year, but that was a slight decrease from March's figures, when home prices jumped 20.6%. A possible reason behind the decrease? Rising mortgage rates. The average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate home loan has surged over 6.10%, according to data collected by The Balance, likely dampening homebuying interest.

Though national prices have decreased slightly, buyers in Tampa, Miami, and Phoenix are still facing a tough market, as home prices there have seen the highest gains among the 20 metropolitan areas that the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Index follows. Tampa has seen the biggest spike in home prices, rising nearly 36% since last year.

As inflation continues to hit consumer wallets when they try to buy a house, fill up at the pump, or go and buy groceries, consumer confidence has fallen again for the second straight month and hit its lowest point since February 2021, according to the Conference Board's latest Consumer Confidence Index release this morning. And Americans aren't too hopeful for the future either: Expectations for income, business, and labor market conditions sank to its lowest level since March 2013.

- Kristin

Editors' Picks

Consumer Confidence Takes a Dive, Home Prices Grew (The Balance)

How Subject-To Loans Work in Real Estate (The Balance)

Tips for Doing the Final Walkthrough Before Closing on a Home (The Balance)

Rural Counties Are Booming, but Can It Last? (The Wall Street Journal)

Less Takeout, More Produce Swapping: How Inflation Is Altering People's Behavior (The New York Times)

New York Fed President John Williams Says a US Recession is Not His Base Case (CNBC)

How To Get Cash From a Credit Card Without a Cash Advance (The Balance)

Off the Charts

Consumers' feelings about the economy and their finances fell to an all-time low this month, according to the University of Michigan's Index of Consumer Sentiment, a popular economic indicator that dates to 1952 and is based on a monthly survey.

Number of the Day

13 - That's how many straight days gas prices have declined, with analysts saying the trend may continue through the Fourth of July weekend, but not the whole summer.