What real estate slowdown? Median home prices in the US housing market rose by over 8% in the third quarter of 2019.
Report: Rise in US Median Home Prices
ATTOM Data Solutions shared its Q3 2019 US Home Sales Report which revealed that single-family homes and condos had a median sales price of $270,000. This is an increase of 2.9% from Q2 2019 and an increase of 8.3% from the same time last year.
With this new high, property sellers also saw an increase in gains. Those who sold their homes in Q3 earned a median profit of 34.5%, reaching a post-recession peak. This was an increase from Q2 2019, which saw a median profit of 34.4% and an increase from the same time last year (34.3% profit). The average dollar gains were $68,686, up from $66,995 in Q2 2019 and $63,750 the same time last year.
Metros where property sellers saw the largest returns include:
- San Jose, CA (82.2%)
- San Francisco, CA (72.0%)
- Seattle, WA (64.9%)
- Salem, OR (60.6%)
- Salt Lake City, UT (59.6%)
Todd Teta, Chief Product Officer at ATTOM Data Solutions, commented on this renewed housing boom:
The seven-year U.S. housing boom is back in high gear. After a series of relatively small price increase quarters, home prices saw quite the uptick, seller profits rose and the problem of distressed sales continued to fade, helping to make the third quarter the strongest in four years. That all happened as mortgage rates sank back to near-historic lows, which clearly powered the market upward along with stock market surges and a continued strong economy. There had been signs before the latest surge of a cooling market, but they seem to have diminished, at least for now.
As Teta mentioned, distressed sales (bank-owned sales, third-party foreclosure auction sales, and short sales) were down- another positive real estate market trend. These sales accounted for 10.5% of all single-family home and condo sales. In Q2, the number was at 11.3% and in Q3 2018, 11.6%.
Home Prices Rose in 95% of Local Real Estate Markets
In the 155 major metros analyzed in the Home Sales Report, 148 (or 95%) saw a year-over-year (YoY) increase in median home prices in Q3. Metro areas that saw the most annual home price appreciation include:
- Lansing, MI (25.1% increase)
- Green Bay, WI (18.1% increase)
- Johnson City, TN (16.7% increase)
- Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC (13.7% increase)
- Spokane, WA (13.5% increase)
Metro areas with a population over 1 million that saw a large increase in median home prices include:
- Philadelphia, PA (12.3% increase)
- Jacksonville, FL (10.8% increase)
- Detroit, MI (10.6% increase)
- Salt Lake City, UT (9.8% increase)
- Milwaukee, WI (9.8% increase)
Related: 5 Best Cities for Real Estate Appreciation in 2020
Major metros that experienced a drop in annual median home prices include:
- Kansas City, MO-KS (9.4% decrease)
- San Jose, CA (3.3% decrease)
- Hartford, CT (0.3% decrease)
The report also found that in 79% (122 out of 155) of the metro areas studied, median home prices were now above pre-recession highs. These include:
- Kennewick, WA (99% above)
- Greeley, CO (89% above)
- Shreveport, LA (84% above)
- Denver, CO (79% above)
- Nashville, TN (75% above)
- Dallas-Fort Worth, TX (73% above)
- Austin, TX (73% above)
- San Antonio, TX (62% above)
- Houston, TX (55% above)
- Oklahoma City, OK (52% above)
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