U.S. home prices continued to rise in the second quarter but there are signs that appreciation is slowing is some areas of the country, a report from ATTOM Data Solutions shows.
The median price of a single-family home or condo in the second quarter was $255,000, an increase of 6.3% compared with the second quarter of 2017.
Although that’s a new all-time high, it represents the slowest annual appreciation since the second quarter of 2016.
“Annual home price appreciation nationwide has now slowed for five consecutive quarters following a post-election spike to double-digit appreciation in the first quarter of 2017,” says Daren Blomquist, senior vice president at ATTOM Data Solutions, in a statement. “Although home sellers are still in the driver’s seat of this housing market, moderating home price appreciation is good news for prospective homebuyers and signals that rising mortgage rates and other housing headwinds are cooling red-hot home price appreciation in some areas.”
The report shows that annual home price appreciation slowed in 80 of 122 metropolitan markets, or 66% of the markets tracked.
Cities that saw a slowdown in home price appreciation in the second quarter included Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and Philadelphia.
Meanwhile, 42 of the 122 metros analyzed, or 34%, saw an increase in home price appreciation in the second quarter.
Cities with the biggest year-over-year increases in median prices were San Jose, Calif. (up 25.0%); Flint, Mich. (up 23.7%); Seattle, Wash. (up 14.3%); Boise, Idaho (up 14.3%); and San Francisco, Calif. (up 14.2%).
“Home prices in the greater Seattle region continue to grow at well above long-term averages for several reasons,” says Matthew Gardner, chief economist with Windermere Real Estate, covering the Seattle market. “Firstly, the area’s booming economy continues to add jobs, driving up demand for housing. Compounding this demand is a lack of new construction housing, which puts substantial upward pressure on home prices in the resale market. Housing affordability is unquestionably a major issue in Seattle; however, ironically enough, the many California buyers relocating to the Seattle area actually think our home prices are a bargain.”
The report shows that median home prices are now above pre-recession levels in 65% of markets.
As of the end of the second quarter, the median U.S. home price was $255,000, which is 6% above the pre-recession peak of $241,648 seen in the third quarter of 2005, according to ATTOM’s data.
