Strong homebuyer demand and limited housing supply led to median sales prices rising for existing single-family homes in all but one of 183 measured markets in the third quarter of 2021.
This is according to the latest quarterly report from the National Association of Realtors, which found that 78 percent of 183 markets experienced double-digit year-over-year price increases, fewer than in the prior quarter (94 percent). Three metro areas saw price gains of over 30 percent from one year ago, also fewer than the number in the previous quarter (12).
“Home prices are continuing to move upward, but the rate at which they ascended slowed in the third quarter,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist. “I expect more homes to hit the market as early as next year, and that additional inventory, combined with higher mortgage rates, should markedly reduce the speed of price increases.”
The median sales price of single-family existing homes climbed 16 percent from one year ago to $363,700, a slower pace in comparison to the preceding quarter (22.9 percent). All four major regions had double-digit year-over-year price growth, led by the Northeast (17.5 percent), followed by the South (14.9 percent), the Midwest (10.7 percent), and the West (10.3 percent).
The markets with the highest year-over-year price gains were: Austin-Round Rock, Texas (33.5 percent); Naples-Immokalee-Marco Island, Florida (32.0 percent); Boise City-Nampa, Idaho (31.5 percent); Ocala, Florida (29.7 percent); Punta Gorda, Florida (27.5 percent); Salt Lake City, Utah (26.2 percent); Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Arizona (25.8 percent); Sebastian-Vero Beach, Florida (25.7 percent); Port St. Lucie, Florida. (24.9 percent); and New York-Jersey City-White Plains, New York-New Jersey (24.5 percent).
“While buyer bidding wars lessened in the third quarter compared to early 2021, consumers still faced stiff competition for homes located in the top ten markets,” said Yun. “Most properties were only on the market for a few days before being listed as under contract.”
The most expensive markets in the third quarter were San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California ($1,650,000); San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, California ($1,350,000); Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine, California ($1,100,000); Urban Honolulu, Hawaii ($1,047,800); Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, California ($860,900); San Diego-Carlsbad, California ($850,000); Boulder, Colorado ($769,400); Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Washington ($708,400); Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, Connecticut ($658,900); and Boston-Cambridge-Newton, Massachusetts-New Hampshire ($657,800).