By Inman News
Shrinking inventory deterring some first-time buyers.
Home prices and home sales both showed strong annual growth during the third quarter, according to the latest report by the National Association of Realtors.
The national median existing single-family home price jumped 7.6 percent from a year ago, to $186,100 — the strongest year-over-year increase for any quarter since first-quarter 2006, when prices were up 9.4 percent from the previous year.
Sales of existing homes rose 10.3 percent during the third quarter, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.68 million, up from 4.25 million a year ago.
Median prices posted annual gains in 120 of 149 metros tracked, up from 110 metros showing gains in the second quarter of 2012 and 39 metros with price appreciation during the third quarter of 2011.
Inventory of existing homes for sale was down 20 percent from a year ago, to 2.32 million. The combination of rising prices and tight inventory on a quarterly basis indicate that the housing recovery is settling in, said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, in a statement.
“We expect fairly normal appreciation patterns in 2013, but there is a risk of price acceleration if builders are unable to meet the needs of our growing population and household formation,” Yun said.
Fighting tight inventory, the West saw the lowest percentage jump of existing-home sales in the third quarter with a 2.1 percent bump from a year ago. The short inventory also translated into a median home price leap of 20.2 percent to $247,400 from a year ago.
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