NAR: Metro Resale Prices Set Record

The median prices of existing homes increased by double-digit percentages on a year-over-year basis in a record number of metropolitan areas in the third quarter, according to the National Association of Realtors.The association's metro area home price report found that 41 of the 124 areas surveyed recorded double-digit annual increases in median resale prices, and only two posted declines. "This breaks a record just set in the second quarter of this year, when 40 metropolitan areas experienced double-digit gains in their median existing-home price," said NAR chief economist David Lereah. "In fact, this is the strongest price increase since publication of our quarterly metro price series began in 1982 and results from historically low inventories of homes available for sale." The top rates of year-over-year hikes in median resale prices were in Riverside-San Bernardino, Calif., up 26.5% to $228,900; the Los Angeles area, up 25.4% to $365,300; and Atlantic City, N.J., up 22.6% to $183,500. The NAR can be found online at http://realtor.org.