IRVINE, CA—RealtyTrac has released its October 2015 U.S. Home Sales Report, which shows that among 94 major metro areas analyzed for the report, 33 markets (35%) have now reached new all-time home price peaks in 2015.
The report also shows that the median sales price of U.S. single family homes and condos in October was $207,500, up 1% from the previous month and up 10% from a year ago — the highest year-over-year percentage increase since February 2014.
The 10% increase in October 2015 came following 20 consecutive months of single-digit annual increases in median home sales prices and marked the 44th consecutive month with a year-over-year increase in median home prices. Despite nearly four years of increases, the U.S. median sales price in October was still 9% below the previous peak of $228,000 in July 2005.
"Home price appreciation did not go into hibernation in October even as the housing market entered the typically slower fall season," said Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac. "More than one-third of the nation's major housing markets have now reached new home price peaks this year, and nearly 90% of markets posted an annual increase in home prices in October. Home sellers are sitting pretty in this market, realizing an average profit-since-purchase of 16% — the highest in any month since December 2007, on the cusp of the Great Recession."
Metro areas that have reached new home price peaks in 2015 include Detroit, which hit a new peak in October with a median sales price of $155,000. Other metros that reached a new price peak in 2015 include Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, St. Louis, Denver, Pittsburgh, Charlotte, Portland, San Antonio and Columbus, OH.
"While increases in pending sales indicate continued strong demand for housing into 2016, coupled with healthy increases in available housing inventory across the state, there remains concern over a decrease in overall closed volume for the fourth quarter of 2015," said Michael Mahon, president at HER Realtors, covering the Cincinnati, Dayton and Columbus markets in Ohio. "This concern squarely rests on continued delays in the housing transaction cycle involving new government regulatory procedures of TRID (the new integrated loan disclosure forms required at closing). "
There were a total of 2,815,704 single family homes and condos sold in the first 10 months of 2015, according to public record sales deeds collected by RealtyTrac. That was a nine-year high for the first 10 months of the year and a 6% jump from the same time period in 2014, when there were a total of 2,667,436 single family and condos sold in the first 10 months of the year.
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