Monday, February 11, 2013

House Prices Soar: We Haven't Had This Kind of Spirit Here Since 2005


The national median price for houses is showing the strongest year-over-year increase in seven years, according to the latest quarterly report by the National Association of Realtors.

The median existing single-family home price rose in 133 out of 152 metropolitan statistical areas based on closings in the fourth quarter compared with same quarter in 2011.

Most noteworthy, a companion report shows record high housing affordability conditions for metro areas in 2012.

Lawrence Yun , NAR chief economist, said all the conditions for strong price growth are at play. "Home sales are on a sustained uptrend, mortgage interest rates are hovering near record lows and unsold inventory is at the lowest level in 12 years." 

The national median existing single-family home price was $178,900 in the fourth quarter, up 10.0 percent from $162,600 in the fourth quarter of 2011, which is the strongest year-over-year price increase since the fourth quarter of 2005 when the median price jumped 13.6 percent.

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