a for sale sign is seen in front of a home in miami florida home prices increased 198 in february year over year according to the sp corelogic caseshiller national home price index that is up from the 191 annual increase in january and is the thirdhighest reading in the indexs 35year history the 10city composite annual increase came in at 186 up from 173 in the previous month the 20city composite was up 202 up from 189 in the previous month sun belt cities continued to see the highest gains phoenix tampa and miami saw annual home price gains of 329 326 and 297 respectively all 20 cities reported higher price increases in the year ending february 2022 versus the year ending january 2022 minneapolis new york and washington dc saw the smallest price gains although they were still in the double digits the macroeconomic environment is evolving rapidly and may not support extraordinary home price growth for much longer wrote craig lazzara managing director at sp dji in a release the postcovid resumption of general economic activity has stoked inflation and the federal reserve has begun to increase interest rates in response we may soon begin to see the impact of increasing mortgage rates on home prices while mortgage rates began rising slowly at the start of this year they didnt really take off sharply higher until march given that this reading is a threemonth running average through february it doesnt show much of an impact from rates that could be coming next though todays sp case shiller index highlights a housing market experiencing a renewed sense of urgency in february as buyers worked through a small number of homes for sale in an effort to get ahead of surging mortgage rates the imbalance between strong demand and insufficient supply pushed prices higher said george ratiu manager of economic research at realtorcom for a medianpriced home financed with a 30year loan the monthly payment is 550 higher than a year ago an increase of 46 according to calculations by realtorcom prices historically tend to lag sales by about six months and pending sales which measure signed contracts have been falling for four straight months through february according to the national association of realtors marchs reading will be released wednesday as we move through the spring housing market we are seeing clear signs of cooling demand many buyers are deciding to take a step back and reevaluate their budgets and timelines added ratiu