Anecdotally speaking, we know the start of the new year has been hot for the housing market. Now, we’ve got some data to back it up.
According to the National Association of Realtors, 70 percent of the metro areas tracked saw double-digit price increases in Q1 of 2022 when compared to the same time period last year.
The median sales price of single-family existing homes rose at a faster pace of 15.7 percent (compared to 14.3 percent in the previous quarter) to reach $368,200. Regionally, the South made up 45 percent of single-family existing-home sales in the first quarter and notched a double-digit price appreciation of 20.1 percent. The Northeast saw a climb of 6.7 percent, the Midwest 8.5 percent, while the West saw a 5.9 percent increase.
“Prices throughout the country have surged for the better part of two years, including in the first quarter of 2022,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist. “Given the extremely low inventory, we’re unlikely to see price declines, but appreciation should slow in the coming months.”
Half of the country’s top 10 most expensive markets were in California, including San Jose; San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward; Anaheim-Irvine; San Diego and Los Angeles-Long Beach. Other cities in the top 10 include Honolulu; Boulder; Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue; Naples-Immokalee-Marco Island and Denver.
Half of the top 10 areas with the highest year-over-year price gains were in Florida, including: Punta Gorda; Ocala; Lakeland-Winter Haven; Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater and North Point-Bradenton-Sarasota. Other cities with the largest gains include Ogden-Clearfield, Utah; Decatur; Fort Collins, Colorado; Myrtle Beach and Salt Lake City.