The National Association of REALTORS ® (NAR) tells us that home prices increased nearly +4% in April 2019 when compared with one year ago. That +4% increase translated into a median home price of $254,800 nationwide.
Lawrence Yun, chief economist with NAR, said, “Homeowners in the majority of markets are continuing to enjoy price gains, albeit at a slower rate of growth. A typical homeowner accumulated approximately +$9,5000 in (home equity) wealth over the past year.”
Single-family home prices rose in 86% of the nation’s housing markets in Q1 2019. 13% of the country’s metros experienced double-digit gains.
Median family incomes rose to $77,752/year during Q1 2019. How those incomes translated into differential down payment percentages looked like this, According to NAR:
- A buyer making a 5% down payment would need an annual income of $60,143.
- A buyer making a 10% down payment would need an annual income of $56,978.
- A buyer making a 20% down payment would need an income of $50,647.
The Five Priciest Metros in Q1 2019 were…
- San Jose – Sunnyvale – Santa Clara with median existing single-family price of $1,220,000
- San Francisco – Oakland – Hayward with median existing single-family price of $930,000
- Anaheim – Santa Ana – Irvine with a median existing single-family price of $800,000
- Urban Honolulu with median existing single-family price of $794,100
- San Diego – Carlsbad with median existing single-family price of $620,000
The Five Lowest Cost Metro Areas in Q1 2019 were…
- Decatur IL with median existing single-family price of $80,800
- Youngstown – Warren – Boardman OK with median existing single-family price of $89,200
- Elmira NY with median existing single-family price of $90,400
- Cumberland MD with median existing single-family price of $99,300
- Binghamton NY with median existing single-family price of $107,200
In terms of a regional breakdown…
- The Northeast saw median existing sales prices drop to $683,000, a decrease of -1% compared with one year ago.
- The Midwest saw median existing sales prices jump to
$194,000, an increase of +3.9% compared with one year ago. The volume of existing sales fell -4% in Q1 2019, -5.5% below the volume of existing sales compared with one year ago.
- The South saw median existing sales prices increase to $225,700, a +2.5% increase from one year ago. Existing sales increased to +4.3% in Q1 2019 BUT are down -5.5% compared with one year ago.
- The West saw existing sales increase +2.8% although, compared with one year ago, sales of existing homes are down -10.7%. The median existing sales price rose to $384,300, an increase of +3.5% y/y.
