WASHINGTON — U.S. home prices jumped 12.2 percent in May from a year ago, the most in seven years. The increase suggests the housing recovery is strengthening.
Real estate data provider CoreLogic said Tuesday that home prices rose from a year ago in 48 states. They fell only in Delaware and Alabama. And all but three of the 100 largest cities reported price gains.
Prices rose 26 percent in Nevada to lead all states. It was followed by California (20.2 percent), Arizona (16.9 percent), Hawaii (16.1 percent) and Oregon (15.5 percent).
CoreLogic also says prices rose 2.6 percent in May from April, the fifteenth straight month-over-month increase.
Steady hiring and low mortgage rates have encouraged more Americans to buy homes. Greater demand, a limited number of homes for sale and fewer foreclosures have pushed prices higher. Prices are still 20 percent below the peak reached in April 2006, according to CoreLogic.
Sales of previously occupied homes topped the 5 million mark in May for the first time in 3 1/2 years. And the proportion of those sales that were “distressed” was at the lowest level in more than four years for the second straight month. Distressed home sales include foreclosures and short sales. A short sale is when a home sells for less than what is owed on the mortgage.
Home sales are expected to increase in the coming months. That’s because the number of people who signed contracts to buy homes rose in June to the highest level since December 2006. There’s generally a one- to two-month lag between a signed contract and a completed sale.
One worry is that higher mortgage rates could slow the housing recovery. Still, rates remain low by historical standards. And increases in rates could boost home sales. That’s’ because many Americans may act to lock in the lower rates before they rise further.
A survey by the University of Michigan released last week found more Americans believe it is a good time to buy a home because both rates and prices are just starting to rise.
Rates have been trending higher for two months. And the average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage leapt to 4.46 percent last week, according to mortgage buyer Freddie Mac. That’s the highest in two years and a point more than a month ago.
Mortgage rates surged after Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said last month that the Fed could scale back its bond buying later this year and end it next year if the economy continued to strengthen. The bond purchases have kept long-term rates down.
Economists say that higher mortgage rates are unlikely to stifle the housing recovery. A more critical issue is whether potential buyers can get loans. There are signs that banks have become more willing to extend mortgages.
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10. San Carlos, CA
strongAvg. listing price:/strong $1,230,880
strongMedian household income:/strong $110,929
strongPct. households $200,000+ income:/strong 30.3%
As of 2010, the median income of households in San Carlos was more than double the U.S. median of $51,914. Over 30% of households in San Carlos earned more than $200,000 per year, more than five times the national rate of 5.4%. San Carlos is one of the most expensive housing markets in the San Francisco metropolitan area. Over a twelve month period, ending in October, it had the nation’s highest median home price per square foot at $473 among all homes listed, according to Trulia. In San Francisco, the median age of home inventory was just 45 days as of the third quarter of 2012, according to Realtor.com, lower than in all but seven markets.
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9. Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA
strongAvg. listing price:/strong $1,232,167
strongMedian household income:/strong $74,489
strongPct. households $200,000+ income:/strong 18.7%
Carmel-by-the-Sea, a small coastal city in California, is well-known for its former mayor, actor Clint Eastwood. Currently, the average four-bedroom, two-bathroom home in the city lists for more than four times the nationwide average listing price of $292,152. With nearly 19% of households earning more than $200,000 in 2010, many families and individuals in the small town can afford expensive properties. One house, despite being not much larger than 2,000 square feet, is currently listed for nearly $4.5 million.
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8. Kailua, HI
strongAvg. listing price:/strong $1,238,208
strongMedian household income:/strong $91,082
strongPct. households $200,000+ income:/strong 14.7%
Kailua is one of just two cities on this list not located in California. The O’ahu Island city is 12 miles northeast of Honolulu, which had a vacancy rate of 2.7% — better than most areas but considerably worse than the other areas on the list. As of October, the median price per square foot for a home in the Honolulu area was $398, more than in any other metro except for San Francisco. According to Trulia, a 0.75 acres plot of land, which includes 128 feet of beachfront, is currently for sale for $16 million in Kailua.
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7. Rye, NY
strongAvg. listing price:/strong $1,312,250
strongMedian household income:/strong $146,069
strongPct. households $200,000+ income:/strong 53.0%
The average listing price for a four-bedroom home in Rye is more than $1,300,000, or more-than $1 million above the U.S. average. Employees in the often high-paying finance and insurance industries accounted for a 27.8% of employed population in Rye in 2010, well above the 7% average rate nationwide. As of 2010, 53% of households earned more than $200,000 annually, more than any other expensive city, and nearly 10 times the national rate of 5.4%. Additionally, just 1.3% of households lived below the poverty line versus 13.8% nationwide. Among the properties available for sale are a five-bedroom, 7,446 square feet waterfront home for $12.9 million and a 34.2 acre plot of land for $19 million.
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6. Los Gatos, CA
strongAvg. listing price:/strong $1,444,214
strongMedian household income:/strong $120,971
strongPct. households $200,000+ income:/strong 37.5%
Los Gatos is one of several cities near San Jose on this list. Like these cities, Los Gatos likely benefits from the overall boom in the San Jose real estate market, which currently has the lowest vacancy rate of all metro areas surveyed by Trulia at just 1%. Currently, a number of unique properties are available in the city, including an 11,000 square feet property with an eight stall horse barn and a garage that fits 12 cars listed at slightly under $13 million. Also for sale is the former home of Apple Inc.’s co-founder Steve Wozniack. It is currently listed for $4.5 million.
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5. Palo Alto, CA
strongAvg. listing price:/strong $1,495,364
strongMedian household income:/strong $120,670
strongPct. households $200,000+ income:/strong 39.3%
In Palo Alto, 48.7% of adults have a graduate or professional degree — well more than four times the national rate of 10.3%. The city’s proximity to Stanford University, one of the top universities in the nation, may be partly the reason behind the city’s highly educated population. Among the companies headquartered in the city are Hewlett-Packard and Tesla Motors. The city is a large employer of highly skilled employees, as 25.3% of its workers are employed in professional, scientific and management occupations, well above the 10.4% of workers nationwide. Perhaps the most famous resident of Palo Alto is Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who
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4. Menlo Park, CA
strongAvg. listing price:/strong $1,506,909
strongMedian household income:/strong $107,860
strongPct. households $200,000+ income: /strong34.9%
Menlo Park is one of just four cities where the average listing price for a four-bedroom home exceeds $1.5 million. As of 2010, the median income in the city was slightly below $108,000. However, the recent Facebook IPO has been a windfall to the area. In June, real estate listing service Zillow reported that the “proportion of million-dollar listings” in Menlo Park — where Facebook is headquartered — rose by 87% between the company’s IPO filing and its first day as a public company. Among the houses available in Menlo Park are a five-bedroom home with a gym, theater area and wine cellar, which is listed for $4.6 million, and a six-bedroom 5,200 square feet home that’s listed for slightly under $5 million.
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3. Saratoga, CA
strongAvg. listing price:/strong $1,582,434
strongMedian household income:/strong $145,023
strongPct. households $200,000+ income:/strong 43.1%
Though home prices in the nearby San Jose metro area fell by 25.1% peak-to-trough, Saratoga is yet another example of how the Silicon Valley housing market has recovered. Currently, the median price per square foot for homes in San Jose is $337, according to Trulia, more than all housing markets except San Francisco and Honolulu. Prices for many homes in the area have skyrocketed, according to listings on Zillow. A home currently listed for nearly $10 million last sold for just over $2.1 million in 2000, while a home listed for $14.9 million last sold in 1994 for just over $1 million. As of 2010, 43.1% of Saratoga households earned more than $200,000 per year, while 40.9% of adult residents had a graduate degree, versus 10.3% nationwide.
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2. Newport Beach, CA
strongAvg. listing price:/strong $1,658,000
strongMedian household income:/strong $107,007
strongPct. households $200,000+ income:/strong 37.6%
Outside of Northern California, Newport Beach is the most expensive city to buy a home. Home prices are so high in the city that in 2009 legendary bond investor Bill Gross bought a nine-bedroom, 11,000 square feet home for $23 million — and then tore it down. In 2011, Gross listed the empty plot of land for $26.5 million. Orange County as a whole has a vacancy rate of just 1.5%, among the ten lowest in the nation. Despite a 32.7% drop in home prices from peak to trough during the recession, Orange County’s median price per square foot is $265. This trails only the Honolulu, New York, San Francisco and San Jose metro areas.
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1. Los Altos, CA
strongAvg. listing price:/strong $1,706,688
strongMedian household income:/strong $149,964
strongPct. households $200,000+ income:/strong 43.6%
In Los Altos, the average four-bedroom, two-bathroom home lists for nearly $50,000 more than any other city in the nation. According to Coldwell Banker, for that price a buyer could purchase 28 similar homes in Redford, Mich., the nation’s cheapest housing market. In Redford, the average home lists for just $60,490. Currently, asking prices in the San Jose metro area have risen 12.7% year-over-year, according to Trulia. This is more than nearly every other metro area in the country.
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