Metro areas from the Atlantic to the Pacific have seen a rise in single-family home prices during the second quarter of this year.
According to a new survey just released by the National Association of Realtors, prices were up in a substantial 89% of 223 metro areas reviewed. At the same time, the national median single-family price is now at the $422,100 mark, a nearly 5% gain from the spring of 2023.
The price gains, notes Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, are “terrific news for homeowners who are moving ahead in wealth gains.”
At the same time, those increases have made it “difficult for those wanting to buy a home, as the required income to qualify has roughly doubled from just a few years ago.”
The most notable increases were seen in the Northeast, with New York City, Jersey City, and Manchester, New Hampshire posting increases ranging from 14.8% to 16.2%.
In the West one of the biggest gainers was recorded in the El Paso metro area, with a 19.2% jump over last year, and the Anaheim-Irving metro area in California with a gain of 15%.
The most expensive metro markets, meanwhile, have a distinct Western flavor, with seven of the top ten located in California. But booming Boulder, Colorado also made that same list, with a sales price increase in the last year of 2%, for an overall spring 2024 average of just over $888,000.
Regionally, the South saw an epic increase in single-family home sales, outpacing all other parts of the country at 45.5%. Other parts of the nation saw much more modest gains, with the Northeast up by 9.8%, the Midwest registering an increase of 5.5%, and the West, up by 5.4%.
The NAR report also noted that mortgages on the average single-family home were up by 10.3% over the spring of 2023 for an average of $2,262—figures that the survey said are adding to the nation’s housing affordability challenges.
A separate report issued by the Mortgage Bankers Association pegged the average this spring at $2, 256.
That figure prompted Edward Seiler, the group’s associate vice president for housing policy, to remark in a statement: “In addition to lower mortgage rates, more housing inventory is desperately needed in markets throughout the country this summer to alleviate these tough affordability conditions.”
By Garry Boulard
