Housing Market Shows 'Signs of Softening'

The housing market is slowing down after torrid gains through much of last year, says Nobel laureate economist Robert Shiller of Yale University.

Indeed, the S&P/Case-Shiller home price index for 20 cities (named after him) rose 13.2 percent in the year through January, That's the smallest gain since August, and it's down from 13.4 percent in the year through December.

Meanwhile, investors such as Blackstone have been curtailing their purchases of houses. Originally these investors were likely attracted by the upward momentum in the housing market since spring 2012 — momentum that was much stronger than in the stock market, Shiller tells CNBC.

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