U.S. Median Home Price Appreciation Decelerates

U.S. single family homes and condos sold for a median price of $255,000 in the second quarter, up 6.3 percent from a year ago to a new all-time high but the slowest annual appreciation since Q2 2016, according to property database curator ATTOM Data Solutions.

"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," said Daren Blomquist, senior vice president at ATTOM Data Solutions. "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."

Annual home price appreciation slows in 66 percent of local markets

Annual home price appreciation in Q2 2018 decelerated from the previous quarter in 80 of the 122 metros (66 percent) analyzed for median home prices, including Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and Philadelphia.

Counter to the national trend, annual home price appreciation accelerated from the previous quarter in 42 of the 122 metros analyzed (34 percent), including New York, Washington, D.C., Boston, San Francisco and Detroit.

Median home prices above pre-recession levels in 65 percent of markets

The U.S. median home price of $255,000 in Q2 2018 was 6 percent above the pre-recession peak of $241,648 in Q3 2005.

Median home prices in 79 of the 122 metro areas analyzed for median home prices in the report (65 percent) were above their pre-recession peaks in Q2 2018, led by Houston, Texas (79 percent above); Dallas-Fort Worth (78 percent above); Greeley, Colorado (76 percent above); Denver, Colorado (75 percent above); and San Antonio, Texas (68 percent above).

Median home prices in Q2 2018 were still below pre-recession peaks in 43 of the 122 metros analyzed for median home prices (35 percent), led by Atlantic City, New Jersey (36 percent below); York, Pennsylvania (34 percent below); Salisbury, Maryland (21 percent below); Naples, Florida (19 percent below); and Trenton, New Jersey (18 percent below).

Average homeownership tenure increases to new all-time high of 8.09 years

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