Home prices hit record highs in nearly two-thirds of major markets

Home prices are ticking up again and reaching new highs in many markets across the country, according to a new report.

Prices grew by 0.8 percent in June after slowing for more than a year, pushing prices to record levels in around 60 percent of the nation’s major housing markets, according to the report from Black Knight.

Overall, annual price growth was greatest in markets in the Midwest and northeast regions of the U.S., while the strongest price growth was seen in Hartford, Conn., Seattle and San Jose.

Median home prices in the pandemic-era boomtown Austin fell furthest below their 2022 peak, the report revealed.  

“We’ve been noting for some months that the recent rate of home price gains would have a lagging, but significant, impact on the annual rate of appreciation,” Black Knight Vice President of Enterprise Research Andy Walden said in a statement.

“Well, June marked that inflection point. Not only has the Black Knight HPI reached a new record high – on both seasonally adjusted and non-adjusted bases – but 60% of major markets have done so as well,” Walden added.

Recent price growth bolstered by a lack of homes for sale has enabled homeowners to recoup a substantial portion of the equity lost last year when high mortgage rates cooled off the once hot housing market.

Total equity exceeded $16 trillion in June, the report showed, giving the average mortgage holder $199,000 in equity. This is up from the first quarter of the year but down from $207,000 at the same time last year. 

“Rising home prices have boosted homeowner equity levels as well, which had been retreating from their 2022 highs not very long ago,” Walden continued. “In fact, despite total outstanding mortgage debt topping $13T for the first time in history, much of the decline in equity we’d tracked since last year’s peak has since been recovered.”

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