NAR: Home Prices Hit New Record High

From the up-up-and-away department: The national median existing single-family home price in the second quarter was $269,000, a new record high, according to data from the National Association of Realtors (NAR). The second quarter level was 5.3 percent above the previous peak of $255,400 set in the second quarter of 2017.

 

Single-family home prices increased in 90 percent of NAR’s measured markets during the second quarter, with 161 out of 178 metro areas experiencing annualized sales price growth. Twenty-four metro areas, or 13 percent, experienced double-digit increases, while the San Francisco metro area joined the San Jose metro area for having a median sales price above $1 million. There were 1.95 million existing homes available for sale by the end of the second quarter, 0.5 percent above the 1.94 million homes for sale at the end of the second quarter in 2017.

 

“The ongoing supply crunch affecting much of the country worsened for most of the second quarter, as the growing number of interested buyers in many markets overwhelmed what was already a meager level of available listings,” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. “With not enough homes for sale, multiple bids caused prices to rise briskly and further out of the reach of some prospective buyers.”

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