Home sale prices increased 5.2% year over year in November, according to a new report from Redfin.
Now, home sale prices are at a median of $311,600, the largest increase since July 2018, when home prices were up from 5.6% from 2018.
“Given that inventory is falling quickly, we’d expect to see even stronger price growth, especially when compared to last year’s soft market,” said Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather.
“The fact that homes are selling faster indicates that there are buyers ready to pull the trigger and take advantage of low interest rates,” Fairweather added. “If lack of inventory and high demand continues, buyers who take a wait-and-see approach could face less favorable conditions in the spring season like bidding wars and faster price growth.”
Home price gains were the biggest in affordable metro areas. There were nine metro areas that saw the biggest gains below the national median for the fifth month in a row.
Homes that were sold in November also spent two fewer days on the market, compared to 2018. The typical home that sold in November went under contract in 45 days, compared to 47 days in November 2018.
The share of homes sold above list price also increased year over year, coming in at 20.7% in November compared to 19.9% a year earlier, Redfin said.
The supply of homes for sale fell 12.1% year over year, which is the biggest decline since April 2013, and the fifth straight month of declines. There were fewer homes for sale last month than in any November since at least 2012, according to Redfin.
Only six of the 85 largest metros tracked by Redfin posted a year over year increase in inventory, led by Knoxville, Tennessee, up 12.0%; El Paso, Texas, up 5.2% and Honolulu, up 2.6%.
For the second month in a row, only one of the 85 largest metro areas Redfin tracks saw a year over year decrease in its median sale price in November.
Nationwide, home sales increased 3% year over year in November, the fourth consecutive month of increases, and were down less than 1% from October on a seasonally-adjusted basis. The markets with the biggest increases in home sales from a year ago were McAllen, Texas, with 14.7%; Anaheim, California with 10.2%, and Virginia Beach with 9.2%.
