During the first half of the year, home prices across the U.S. rose at an annualized rate of 6.3%, according to the latest Radian Home Price Index data.
From July 2019 to June 2020, Radian’s HPI rose 8.1% year over year, inching higher than the year-over-year increase of 7.8% recorded last month, the report said. This increase signals a general upward trend in annualized yearly gains.
According to Radian’s data, all of the 20 largest metro areas in the U.S. recorded positive price appreciation in Q2 and the first half of 2020.
“While there has been localized volatility in home prices during the pandemic, prices overall have remained quite resilient,” said Steve Gaenzler, senior vice president of data and analytics at Radian. “After gains across the U.S. slowed in May, the first half of the year ended on an impressive note, especially given the significant headwinds real estate transactions have faced.”
In the last week of June, the number of closed real estate sales was higher than in the same week of 2019.
During June, the median home price in the U.S. sat at $256,740, rising an annualized 6.6% during the second quarter.
Meanwhile, the estimated median price for single-family and condos rose to $256,740 in June after registering $254,826 in May.
Homes in the Northeast recorded the slowest rate of appreciation during the first half of the year, Radian said. However, New Hampshire and Maine have seen strong home-price momentum so far this year.
Homes in the south have also seen mixed appreciation rates. Home prices in Louisiana are reportedly unchanged since the beginning of 2020, while Tennessee and Georgia have recorded the strongest appreciation rates. Florida is performing the weakest.
Further west, Utah and Washington led this region to be the second-best performing so far this year. California underperformed in seven of the 11 regional states, but still performed better than Nevada, Hawaii and Wyoming.
In the Midwest, homebuyers can find the highest rates of home price appreciation in the U.S., reflecting higher demand in more affordable markets, including Indiana, Minnesota and Missouri. Illinois is the weakest-performing state in the region.
Further, 14 of the 20 largest metros had stronger Q2 price appreciation rates than in Q1. The weakest large metros in the first half of 2020 included Baltimore, Washington, D.C, Boston and Miami, which ranged from +3% to +3.3%.
