According to the National Association of Realtor’s latest quarterly Metropolitan Median Area Prices and Affordability report, Single-family home prices increased in 90% of measured markets, with 161 out of 178 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) showing sales price gains in Q2 compared to one year ago. Twenty-four metro areas (13%) experienced double-digit increases, down from 30% in Q1, 2018. The NAR’s report provides a breakdown of condo and co-op prices by metro market.
The five most expensive housing markets for single-families in Q2 were San Jose, California ($1,405,000); San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, California ($1,070,000); Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine, California ($830,000); urban Honolulu ($795,200); and San Diego-Carlsbad ($645,000). The five lowest-cost metro areas in Q2 were Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, Ohio ($94,400); Cumberland, Maryland ($94,900); Decatur, Illinois ($96,900); Elmira, New York ($106,300); and Erie, Pennsylvania ($121,700). In addition, total existing-home sales, including single family & condos, decreased 1.7% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.41 million in Q2 from 5.51 million in the first quarter, and are 2.4% lower than the 5.55 million pace experienced during Q2 of 2017.
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, says this year’s spring buying season did not meet expectations, despite very strong demand. “The ongoing supply crunch affecting much of the country worsened for most of the second quarter, as the growing number of interested buyers in many markets overwhelmed what was already a meager level of available listings,” he said. “With not enough homes for sale, multiple bids caused prices to rise briskly and further out of the reach of some prospective buyers.”