Press release
Realtor.com® February Housing Report: Home Prices Hit All-Time High Ahead of Spring Buying Season
In February, listing prices grew at a double-digit annual pace nationwide (+12.9%) and in nearly half of the 50 largest U.S. markets, led by the southern
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[{"type":"text","content":"In February, listing prices grew at a double-digit annual pace nationwide (+12.9%) and in nearly half of the 50 largest U.S. markets, led by the southern (+12.5%) and western (+12.1%) regions\n\n\nSANTA CLARA, Calif., March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- New data suggests Spring homebuying fever has already set in, as the U.S. median listing price hit a new all-time high of $392,000 in February, according to the Realtor.com® Monthly Housing Trends Report released today. Additionally, home prices grew at an unusually-fast February pace in many of the 50 largest metros, led by Las Vegas, Miami and Tampa, Fla. with annual increases of at least 31% each. \n\"Over the last five years, we have seen home prices break records early in the season as buyers try to get ahead of the competition. But this is the first time the record has been broken in February, signaling that competition is already heating up weeks before the start of the Spring buying season in a typical year,\" said Realtor.com® Chief Economist Danielle Hale. \"While the number of homes on the market remains woefully behind buyer demand, in February we saw declines in new listings improve for the first time since November 2021, indicating potential hope on the horizon. Whether inventory continues to improve will depend on a variety of economic and geopolitical factors, including the conflict in Ukraine and mortgage rate hikes, which haven't impacted home sales or price growth so far, but will increasingly lessen buyers' purchasing power.\"\nFebruary 2022 Housing Metrics – National\nMetric\nChange Over Feb. 2021\nChange Over Feb. 2020\nActive Listing Count\n-24.5%\n-62.6%\nNew listings\n-0.5%\n-14.5%\nMedian Listing Price\n12.9%\n26.6%\nMedian Days on Market\n-17 days\n-32 days\nThe national listing price broke a new record in February, signaling an early start to the 2022 Spring buying seasonHousing affordability is increasingly an issue for 2022 buyers, partly due to climbing mortgage rates, which reached the highest level in nearly three years within the first two months of the year. With further hikes looming, February data suggests competition intensified as motivated buyers raced to lock in relatively affordable monthly payments. As a result, the national listing price exceeded the record set during the 2021 summer frenzy. While it's not uncommon for home price growth to be...