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Seller Profit Increases, Median Home Prices Hit Another Record

Nov 04, 2021
Photo of a pile of hundred-dollar bills.
Director of Events

ATTOM's third-quarter 2021 U.S. Home Sales Report showed that profit margins on median-priced single-family home and condo sales across the United States jumped to 47.6% – the highest level since the end of the Great Recession a decade ago.

The ATTOM report revealed that the typical home sale across the country during the third quarter of 2021 generated a profit of $100,178 as the national median home price hit a record of $310,500. The latest profit level – also a new high - was up from $88,800 in the second quarter of 2021 and from $69,000 in the third quarter of 2020.

The typical return on investment that sellers made on their original purchase price nationwide increased 42% in the second quarter of this year and 34.5% a year earlier, according to ATTOM. The investment-return growth marked the largest quarterly jump since 2014 and the biggest annual surge since at least 2008.

“Soaring profits in the third quarter came as the national median home price increased 3.5% from the second quarter of 2021 and 15.9% from the third quarter of 2020. The annual price surge marked the fifth straight quarter with year-over-year increases of at least 10%,” according to the report.

Meanwhile, median home prices rose annually in 93% of U.S. metropolitan areas with enough data to analyze, while profit margins increased in 86% of metropolitan areas.

“The third quarter of this year marked another period in a banner year for a housing market boom that’s steaming ahead through its 10th year. Prices and seller profits again hit new highs since the market started coming back from the Great Recession in 2012,” said Todd Teta, chief product officer at ATTOM. “There have been a couple of small hints of a possible slowdown in recent months, as we head into the normally quiet Fall and Winter seasons. The pandemic also remains a constant presence that could tamp things down. But, for now, the market engine seems to have nothing but high-octane gas in the tank.

ATTOM also reported that FHA-financed purchases remain at a nearly 14-year low. Nationwide, buyers using Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans accounted for only 8.3% of all single-family home and condo purchases in the third quarter of 2021, the second-lowest level since the fourth quarter of 2007. 

About the author
Director of Events
Navi Persaud is Director of Events at NMP.
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