Home prices in July declined at fastest rate in over a decade: Report

Home prices in the United States declined at the fastest rate last month in over a decade, a continued sign of the ongoing cooling-off of the white-house U.S. housing market. 

The 0.77 percent drop is the steepest month-over-month decline since January of 2011, as well as the second-sharpest price drop going back to 1991.

The sharpest July drop on record, of 0.9 percent, was recorded in 2010, at a time when the U.S. economy was still struggling under the weight of the Great Recession. 

The data, published by Black Knight and reviewed by CNBC, indicate the continued cooling of the American real estate market after several years of nonstop price increases and constricted stock. 

Rising interest rates have put a damper on housing activity in the country, even as stock remains historically low and buyer demand technically remains elevated.

According to CNBC, citing Black Knight's data, housing affordability in the U.S. "is at its lowest level in 30 years."

"It requires 32.7% of the median household income to purchase the average home using a 20% down payment on a 30-year mortgage," the network reported.