(NewsNation) — After years of sellers calling the shots, buyers are regaining leverage, with home price growth now trailing inflation.

The national S&P Cotality Case-Shiller home price index increased 1.5% in August from a year earlier, the weakest annual gain in more than two years, according to data released this week.

That's welcome news for prospective buyers who have been up against record prices and elevated mortgage rates but less so for homeowners watching their real equity erode.

"With price growth running at half the rate of inflation and several major markets in decline, the rapid appreciation of recent years has clearly ended," Nicholas Godec, head of fixed income tradables & commodities at S&P Dow Jones Indices, said in a statement.

The slowdown is a result of affordabilit

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