The twin, deeply entrenched drivers of rapidly appreciating home prices over the past few years – very high demand from home buyers and incredibly limited supply to meet it – aren’t changing and are unlikely to meaningfully subside in the near term. But there are some very faint, very preliminary, sometimes contradictory and maybe deceptive signals that the tide could slowly be beginning to turn.

The U.S. National Case-Shiller Index® climbed 6.4 percent in May from a year earlier, flat from the previous month and slightly ahead of expectations. May was the ninth straight month of annual appreciate of 6 percent or higher.

Seattle, Las Vegas, and San Francisco continued to post the highest annual gains in the 20-City Composite. In May, Seattle home prices rose 13.6 percent, Las Vegas by 12.6 percent and San Francisco by 10.9 percent. Seven of the 20 cities reported stronger price gains in the year that ended May 2018 than the year ending April 2018.

Inventory is still falling, but not at the double-digit annual rates it was just a few months ago. Whether this is because inventory realistically can’t fall much farther or because increased builder activity is finally starting to make a dent is up for debate.

Rent growth has largely stabilized at a fairly sustainable annual growth rate, which may take some of the urgency out of the market from those tenants desperate to escape rapidly rising rents and get into the stability of a mortgage.

Sales of existing homes have largely plateaued and don’t seem likely to break past the roughly 5.5 million annual sales pace that they’ve been stuck on for months, although that may have more to do with the fact there is simply so little available to buy.

Sales of new homes have been strong , but permits are weak – a sign that builders aren’t anticipating as much demand from buyers going forward, and/or that mounting cost headwinds are finally taking their toll.

Home price growth is likely to slow somewhat going forward, but the truth is that little has changed for home buyers in the market today: Competition is fierce, prices are rising and selection is limited.

Zillow forecasts that Case-Shiller’s June index will show a 6.5% year-over-year gain in national home prices.

Note: Case-Shiller and Case-Shiller Index are registered trademarks of CoreLogic Solutions, LLC. The statements herein are not endorsed by or provided in association or connection with CoreLogic, LLC.