National Figures

Once again the national real estate market has set a record for the sale of existing homes. The median sale price in the country rose to $219,900 in June. This is a 6.3% jump, the biggest in history. Housing prices have increased five times the rate of inflation in the country. Incredibly even this is not stopping buyers. Higher family income and lower interest rates are keeping sky-high prices reachable for would-be buyers. These record prices are being fueled by the lowest mortgage rates in fifteen months. The news is the same throughout the country. Prices have increased in all four regions. The West and the Northeast showed the largest gains. In the West the median price went up 17.4% to $317,000 and in the Northeast the median price increased to $250,000 a 13.6% increase from last June. The number of sales also rose in the Northeast by 3.5% but the West (which obviously includes) California out paced even that with a 5.5% increase. The National Association of Realtors is forecasting another increase next year. One thing interesting to note…on a national level yearly housing medians have not dropped since 1950.