Housing market shows no sign of thawing as spring buying season nears

Although the housing market traditionally thaws every spring, aspiring homebuyers may want to consider an extended hibernation given what is an exceptionally tough market this year.

Home prices last year rose an average of 6.7% in the country's 20 biggest metro areas, according to the latest S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller data. Across the nation as a whole, housing prices rose than 5% over the last year. Driving the increase are higher mortgage rates, which makes homeowners reluctant to sell their properties given the elevated costs of finding a new place, coupled with a dearth of homes on the market.

"It's just a sort of toxic brew that means that people are not willing to sell houses, and the people who are actually looking for them don't have a lot of stock, or don't have a lot of affordable options," said Javier E. David, managing editor for business and markets at Axios, told CBS News.