Metro Home Prices Rise Nearly 5 Percent

The latest data from the National Association of REALTORS® shows low inventory levels of moderately priced homes, which continue to stifle sales. As a result, home prices in metro areas continue to rise.

Nearly all metro markets saw increases in single-family home prices with a handful of markets increasing by double digits.

Overall, the national median existing single-family home price in the third quarter was up 4.8 percent from the third quarter of 2017 ($266,900 vs. $254,700).

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, says low inventory persisted in suppressing the market during the third quarter. “Though inventory is more than adequate on the upper-end market, the insufficient supply of low to mid-priced homes in metro markets with strong job growth continues to drive up prices and push prospective buyers out of the market,” he said.

While median family income increased in this most recent quarter, affordability decreased due to higher mortgage rates and home prices.

“Aspiring middle-class home buyers continue to face affordability issues, as buyers are increasingly being priced out in the West while the rest of the country struggles, too,” said Yun. “The market desperately needs homebuilders to begin constructing more moderately priced single-family home and condominiums to help satisfy demand and mitigate rapid price growth.”

The five most expensive housing markets:

The five lowest-cost housing markets: