11:15 AM EDT, 09/17/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Home price growth picked up on a sequential basis in August while the annual pace eased to the slowest rate since January, Redfin (RDFN) reported Tuesday.

Prices of US homes advanced 0.5% on a seasonally adjusted basis last month, the largest increase since April, according to the real estate brokerage. Home prices climbed 6.7% year over year, the lowest annual increase since January.

"Prices kept creeping up during this unusually slow summer for home sales as mortgage rates came down and supply remained stubbornly low," Redfin Senior Economist Sheharyar Bokhari.

A prior Redfin report showed that active listings were up nearly 17% year over year during the four weeks ended Sept. 8, but down about 30% from pre-pandemic levels. The 30-year mortgage rate dropped to its lowest level since February 2023 to 6.2% as of Thursday, according to the latest Freddie Mac data.

"If mortgage rates fall further this fall -- and we expect they will -- price growth will likely pick up as more prospective homebuyers come off the sidelines," Bokhari said Tuesday. Mortgage affordability could improve "as soon as tomorrow" depending on the magnitude of an interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve, Redfin wrote.

The Federal Open Market Committee's two-day meeting begins Tuesday, with a decision on its benchmark lending rate expected Wednesday. There is a 61% chance the FOMC will cut interest rates by 50 basis points, with the remaining odds in the favor of a 25-basis-point reduction, according to the CME FedWatch tool.

About 40% of the 50 most populous US metro areas recorded a month-to-month decline in home prices last month, led by San Antonio, Texas at a 2.4% drop, the latest Redfin report showed.

Price: 14.05, Change: +0.41, Percent Change: +3.01