Articles

U.S. home prices hit new high in May

07/08/2021   |   By Chahinez Dib

According to new data from Realtor.com, the U.S. median home price reached an all-time high of $380,000 in May, up to 15.2% compared to last year—but lower than the previous month’s growth rate of 17.2%. 

Realtor.com looked at the 300 largest metropolitan areas in the U.S. and ranked them by their sale price increases since 2017.

While the national median home price continued its double-digit growth, it is also the first time the annual growth rate has decreased in 13 months. According to the report, active listing prices in the U.S. biggest metros increased by an average of 7.4% year-to-year—which is lower than last month’s rate of 11.6%. 

The report highlights that, among the most significant 50 metros areas, listing prices are growing most in western markets, where they are now increasing at an average rate of 13.3% compared to last year. The growth rate is at 8.2% in the southern metropolitan areas, 5.9% for northeastern metros and 1.0% for midwestern metros. 

“Austin (+32.2%), Riverside (+21.5%), and Las Vegas (+18.5%) posted the highest year-over-year median list price growth in May,” according to the report. 

Home Selling More Than a Month Faster Than Last Year

According to Realtor.com, homes for sale in May continued to sell faster than last year, as buyers’ demand remained strong and the housing market experienced a slowdown last May. With less than half the number of homes for sale than this time last year, the pressure is on homeowners to move fast as the typical time on the market reached a new low at 39 days last May—which is 32 days faster than last year.

According to the report, this is 19 days less than the average time on the market from May 2017 to 2019, as demand for homes remains elevated heading into the summer months. 

Home sales in May were the fastest in Rochester, N.Y., say a median of 11 days on the market, followed by Columbus, Ohio (13 days) and Denver (14 days). 

Among the 50 largest U.S. metropolitan areas, the average home spent 33 days on the market, and homes spent 25 days less on the market than last May. Also, the time a property spends on the market has lowered most in large metropolitan areas in the Northeast (-32 days), the South and Midwest (-26 days each), and the West (-18 days).

In larger metros areas, homes in cities such as Pittsburgh (-48 days), Detroit (-45 days), and Rochester (-45 days) saw a substantial decline in time spent on the market compared to last year.