Amid intense market demand and low inventory, the U.S. median home price hit a record high of $319,769 in the four weeks ending September 27, according to Redfin.
The 14 percent year-over-year increase was the largest annual uptick since August 2013.
Likewise, since the four-week period ending July 5, home prices have increased 6.5 percent. By contrast, during that same period in both 2018 and 2019, home prices decreased by 4.2 percent on average.
The pause in the market that took place during spring homebuying months led to pent up demand and, subsequently, spring-like activity in the market that’s continued into fall. Pending sales were up 30 percent year over year and the median asking price of new listings was up 12.8 percent year over year, down from its peak of a 15.7 percent growth rate in the four-week period ending August 30.
Daryl Fairweather | Credit: Redfin
“The question on everyone’s mind is ‘How fast can prices keep rising?'” Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather said in the report. “Although the housing market is still red-hot, there are some early signs we may be nearing peak price growth. Sellers’ asking prices are still up significantly from last year, but by a lower rate than they were growing during the summer. Mortgage applications are also beginning to wane, and more new listings are coming onto the market. This is likely to be as good as it gets for homesellers, who definitely have had it very good for a very long time.”
Meanwhile, active listings fell 28 percent year over year to a new all-time low while the average sale-to-list price ratio (how close homes sell to their asking prices) rose to an all-time high of 99.4 percent.
Nearly half of homes that went under contract had an accepted offer within the first two weeks on the market.
