U.S. median home prices posted their highest annual gain in 7 1/2 years in the second quarter of 2013, while existing-home sales hit their highest rate in six years, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported.
The national median existing single-family home price jumped 12.2 percent year over year, from $181,300 in the second quarter of 2012 to $203,500 in the second quarter of 2013, according to NAR’s latest quarterly report. That marks the highest annual price increase since the fourth quarter of 2005, when the median price surged 13.6 percent.
Meanwhile, existing-home sales increased by 12.3 percent, rising from a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.51 million in the second quarter of 2012 to 5.06 million in the second quarter of 2013.
Home sales in the second quarter of 2013 clocked their highest quarterly rate since the second quarter of 2007, when they hit 5.23 million, NAR said. Source: NAR
