Home prices continue to rise across the country.
That’s according to the latest quarterly report from the National Association of Realtors, which found that single-family home prices increased in 170 of 180 metropolitan areas and the media single-family home price climbed 6.6 percent from the fourth quarter in 2018.
Specifically, the report found:
- The national median existing single-home price was $274,900 in the fourth quarter of 2019 (up from $258,000 a year earlier).
- At the end of 2019, 1.4 million existing homes were available for sale – 8.5 percent less than at the end of 2018.
- The average supply during the fourth quarter was three and half months, down from four months in the 2018. This number refers to how long it would take for every house on the market to sell given how many homes sell a month.
“It is challenging – especially for those potential buyers – where we have a good economy, low interest rates and a soaring stock market, yet are finding very few homes available for sale,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors. “We saw prices increase during every quarter of 2019 above wage growth.”
The Realtors report showed 18 metro areas experienced double-digit price growth in the quarter, including Trenton, New Jersey (18.2 percent), Boise City-Nampa, Idaho (13.7 percent), Gulfport-Biloxi, Mississippi (11.8 percent), Kingston, New York (11.2 percent) and Albuquerque, New Mexico (11.1 percent).