All Around Pressure on Home Prices

A new study by the National Association of Realtors finds that for most metro areas, list prices were higher in June of this year than they were a year ago, and homes are selling faster.

Looking at major U.S. metros, NAR research economist Scholastica Gay Cororaton finds that most metros had rising median list prices with fewer median days on the market in June 2018 relative to June 2017. Cororaton concludes that as demand and supply remain imbalanced, prices continue to rise for many metropolitan areas, though appreciation is slower as affordability, rising interest rates, and lower housing starts growth push back. As more Millennials start families, earn higher incomes, and form more households, demand pressure will continue to grow.

The national median existing home sale price hit a 17-year high in June, but the rate of appreciation was slower than it was in June 2017. The median price of existing homes sold was $276,900, growing 5.2 percent annually, slower than the price appreciation of 10 percent or more in 2013. As of June 2018, the national median sales price of existing homes sold rose to a peak of $276,900, the highest level since 20001 when NAR started tracking this data.

Read more