The median home price across the United States reached $300,000 in March, a new record high according to a recent report from realtor.com. Prices were up 7 percent year-over-year in March, still showing strong growth, but not quite as strong as last March’s 8 percent year-over-year gain.
The data shows that despite a cooling housing market, high prices will continue to pose an affordability challenge for buyers.
“Prices are continuing to rise and they’re going to get higher,” Danielle Hale, chief economist of realtor.com said in a story on the company’s blog. “The same property today that’s for sale is more expensive, and we’re seeing more higher-end homes for sale.”
The high end of the market continues to grow, while the low end continues to shrink. The number of homes above $750,000 grew 11 percent year-over-year while the number of homes under $200,000 declined 9 percent.
“In a slowing market, it’s not uncommon to have a gap between list prices and sale prices,” Hale added. “It can take sellers a little bit of time to catch up to the reality.”
Housing inventory increased nationally but at a slower pace than the market experienced earlier this year. National inventory climbed 4 percent year-over-year while inventory in the largest U.S. metros grew 9 percent.
Inventory climbed the most in San Jose, Seattle and San Francisco which saw increases of 114 percent, 77 percent and 44 percent, respectively.
New listings were down 0.4 percent year-over-year, however, which could be a sign of a tighter market ahead.
Homes sold at a median rate of 65 days in March, which was two days slower than last year. In the 50 largest U.S. metros, the typical home spent four more days on the market compared to the previous year, with Kansas City, Missouri, seeing the biggest change at 16 more days on the market.