Home price growth is slowing, according to the latest data from the Case-Shiller Home Price Index. Jessica Lautz, National Association of Realtors deputy chief economist and vice president of research, joins Wealth! to break down the state of the housing market and why many Americans are opting to co-buy homes.

"It's a really interesting housing market right now because as we look regionally, we know that the West is always more expensive, but we're still seeing migration flow into mountain states, into the Sunbelt, and that's pushing up home prices in those areas of the country. We also know that it's really a struggle for first-time home buyers based on affordability to come into the market. So it's really expensive homes where we're seeing strong growth," Lautz explains.

She notes that the qualifying income to buy a home is $108,000 nationwide, and for more buyers to enter the market, mortgage rates will have to continue easing. "If we look over the summer months, we saw that multiple bids had ticked down. We're at 2.4 offers for every home listed right now. But at the really tough peak, when we knew that interest rates were quite low in the 2% and 3% range, we saw 5.5 offers," she explains. Lautz believes that level may never be achieved again, but as rates continue to fall, she expects to see more interest in the housing market.

She also highlights that 20% of homes in the last month sold above the asking price, which is lower than it has been over the past several months. "What we're seeing is strong demand in the housing market. As rates tick down, we could see those multiple offers come back," she tells Yahoo Finance.

With the housing market still facing an affordability crisis, Lautz notes that many people are looking to co-buy. She explains, "Homes are expensive and so pooling incomes, thinking about saving together, earning equity together, makes a lot of sense, especially when housing in this country is usually three bedrooms, two baths. So do you actually need that whole house by yourselves as a single buyer? Probably not. So a roommate makes a lot of sense."

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This post was written by Melanie Riehl