Just in case you had a hankering to get back out there into the brutal real estate market:

Home prices grew more quickly than usual at the end of 2023 to finish at an all-time high. It's a side effect of the market for existing homes that dried up as mortgage rates rose.

Prices rose 6.1% from year-ago levels in the S&P CoreLogic Case Shiller Home Price Indices, which tracks prices in 20 of the nation's largest cities, up from 5.4% in November, and beating FactSet consensus estimates that called for a 5.9% increase. Prices nationally rose 5.5%.

Remember the good old days when we all thought that home prices were coming down?

So what happened? Well, mortgage rates spiked:

That drove buyers out of the market, leading to brief downward pressure on home prices. But existing homeowners were also not eager to buy a new home at higher rates — leading to further constriction of the housing stock:

We're now at the point where younger buyers are turning to Amazon to be able to afford houses:

And yes, prices really are insane:

So far, prices tracked by Redfin have remained strong. The median sale price in metros tracked by the brokerage was $365,000 in the four weeks ended Feb. 18, up about 6% from the year prior. Homes new to the market were asking just under $400,000, the data show.

All us prospective buyers out here asking:

No end in sight yet, I'm afraid.

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