Home prices in the United States are maintaining their robust growth with a shortage of supply reining in sales, according to the latest index report.
The national median existing single family home price in the second quarter was $255,600, up 6.2% from the second quarter of 2016 when it was $240,700 and reaches a new peak quarterly median sales price, according to the data from the National Association of Realtors.
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said that home prices in most metro areas continued their fast ascent in the second quarter because supply remained at pitiful levels. ‘The 2.2 million net new jobs created over the past year generated significant interest in purchasing a home in what was an extremely competitive spring buying season,’ he explained.
‘Listings typically flew off the market in under a month and even quicker in the affordable price range in several parts of the country. With new supply not even coming close to keeping pace, price appreciation remained swift in most markets,’ he pointed out.
‘The glaring need for more new home construction is creating an affordability crisis that needs to be addressed by policy officials and local governments. An increasing share of would-be buyers are being priced out of the market and are unable to experience the wealth building benefits of home ownership,’ he added.
The data shows that 23 metro areas or 13% recorded double digit increases, down from 30 or 17% in the first quarter. Overall, there were slightly more rising markets in the second quarter compared to the first quarter, when price gains were recorded in 85% of metro areas.
Total existing home sales fell by 0.9% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.57 million in the second quarter from 5.62 million in the first quarter, but are still 1.6% higher than the 5.48 million pace during the second quarter of 2016.
The five most expensive housing markets in the second quarter were the San Jose, California, metro area, where the median existing single-family price was $1,183,400, followed by San Francisco at $950,000, Anaheim-Santa Ana in California at $788,000, urban Honolulu, at $760,600 and San Diego at $605,000.
The five lowest cost metro areas in the second quarter were Youngstown-Warren-Boardman in Ohio at $87,000, Cumberland in Maryland at $98,200, Decatur in Illinois at $107,400, Binghamton in New York at $109,000 and Elmira in New York, at $111,600.
A breakdown of the figures show that total existing home sales in the Northeast rose 1.3% in the second quarter and are 0.4% above the second quarter of 2016 with a median existing single-family home price in the Northeast price of $282,300, up 3.2% from a year ago.
In the Midwest, existing home sales increased 4.2% but are 0.5% below a year ago. The median price was up 6.6% to $204,000 in the second quarter from the same quarter a year ago.
Existing home sales in the South fell by 3% in the second quarter but are 2.55 higher than the second quarter of 2016 with a median price of $229,400, some 6.7% above a year earlier.
In the West, existing home sales decreased fell 3.7% but are 3.1% above a year ago and the median price was up 7.5% to $372,400 in the second quarter from the second quarter of 2016.
