The median price for single-family homes and condos sold during the second quarter was $266,000, according to new statistics from
ATTOM Data Solutions. This price is 10.8 percent higher than the previous quarter and up 6.4 percent from a year ago, and it also represents a new median home price peak as reported by the company.
Median home prices were up in 133 of the 149 metro areas analyzed by ATTOM, or 89 percent. The greatest increases were seen in Atlantic City, N.J. (16 percent increase), Boise City, Idaho (14 percent increase), Chattanooga, Tenn. (13.9 percent increase), Mobile, Ala. (11.2 percent increase) and Madison, Wis. (10.8 percent increase).
Another peak reached in the second quarter involved the length of homeownership: sellers who sold in the second quarter had owned their property for an average of 8.09 years, up three percent from the first quarter and up four percent from the second quarter of 2018. In comparison, homeownership tenure averaged 4.21 years nationwide between the first quarter of 2000 and the third quarter of 2007, prior to the Great Recession.
“As warmer weather brings a rush of house hunters to the market, the latest spike in median home prices marked the largest quarterly increase since the second quarter of 2015 and the third biggest increase since the market started climbing out of the Great Recession in 2012,” said Todd Teta, chief product officer at ATTOM Data Solutions. “However, in looking at historical trends, the second quarter of every year has always shown a quarterly increase, going as far back as 2005. So, with mortgage rates dipping to new lows, it’s no surprise that people were wanting to buy a home, even if prices were at their peak. We expect to see milder home prices in the coming quarters.”
