Home prices rose for the second month in a row in March, suggesting the housing market softness that started last year could be ending, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices. 

Specifically, the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index rose 1.3% month over month, compared to a 0.3% gain in February. Year over year, the index was up 0.7%. 

“Two months of increasing prices do not a definitive recovery make, but March’s results suggest that the decline in home prices that began in June 2022 may have come to an end,” S&P DJI Managing Director Craig Lazzara said in a press release. “That said, the challenges posed by current mortgage rates and the continuing possibility of economic weakness are likely to remain a headwind for housing prices for at least the next several months.”  

In Phoenix, home prices posted a 4.5% year-over-year decline in March, while prices rose 0.5% month over month. 

The 10-city composite index slid 0.8% on a yearly basis and rose 1.6% on a monthly basis, while the 20-city composite fell 1.1% annually and gained 1.5% monthly.