More than 90 percent of metro markets (205 out of 221) posted home price gains in the first quarter of 2024, as the 30-year fixed mortgage rate ranged from 6.6 percent to 6.94 percent, according to the National Association of Realtors’ latest quarterly report. Thirty percent of the 221 tracked metro areas experienced double-digit price gains over the same period, up from 15 percent in the fourth quarter of 2023.
“Astonishingly, greater than 90 percent of the country’s metro areas experienced home price growth despite facing the highest mortgage rates in two decades,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist. “In the current market, rising prices are the direct result of insufficient housing supply not meeting the full demand.”
Compared to one year ago, the national median single-family existing-home price climbed 5 percent to $389,400. In the prior quarter, the year-over-year national median price increased 3.4 percent.
Among the major U.S. regions, the South registered the largest share of single-family existing-home sales (46 percent) in the first quarter, with year-over-year price appreciation of 3.3 percent. Prices also swelled 11 percent in the Northeast, 7.4 percent in the Midwest and 7.3 percent in the West.
“The expensive markets in the West, where home prices declined last year, are roaring back,” Yun said. “Price dips in that region were viewed as second-chance opportunities by many buyers.”
Seven percent of markets (15 of 221) experienced home price declines in the first quarter, down from 14 percent in the fourth quarter of 2023.