Home prices across the country have risen the most in three decades, and the D.C. metro is among markets gaining.
The monthly S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index shows the median price in the 20 biggest metropolitan areas in May was up 17% from a year earlier. The year-over-year gain in the D.C. metro was a record 14.8%, and the median selling price in the D.C. region rose 2.1% just from April to May.
All 20 of the largest metros had double digit, year-over-year median selling price gains in May. The biggest annual gain was registered by Phoenix, up 25.9%, according to the Home Price Index.
San Diego and Seattle had annual gains of more than 20% in May.
“Housing price growth set a record for the second consecutive month in May 2021, said Craig Lazzara, managing director and global head of Index Investment Strategy at S&P. “A month ago, I described April’s performance as ‘truly extraordinary,” and this month I find myself running out of superlatives.”
A separate report this week more closely aligned with the current market showed the median price of what sold in D.C. in June was a record $700,000, an annual gain of 13%, according to Long & Foster Real Estate.
The sky high prices are starting to slow sales. Contacts signed to buy brand new homes nationwide fell to the lowest level in more than a year in June.
