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U.S. Home Prices Soared 7.7% in August

Seattle sees highest growth; sales and inventory dropped nationwide

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Seattle skyline at night

George Rose/Getty Images
Seattle skyline at night
George Rose/Getty Images

It’s still a heavy sellers market in the U.S. as national home prices rose by 7.7% in August— and where prices soared both sales and inventory dropped, according to a new Redfin report released on Thursday.

The home price increase was the largest year-over-year price gain since May 2015 the report said. The national median sale price was $293,000.

More:Seattle Leads U.S. Home Price Surge

Sales, though, fell 5.5% compared to August last year, reportedly the largest decline since July 2016, although 24.9% of homes sold above their list price. The number of homes for sale dropped 12.4%, the largest year-over-year decline in a 23-month streak of declining inventory.

Meanwhile, the number of new listings in August was down 1% from a year ago, leaving less than three months of supply on the market.

"The real estate market still favors sellers, with strong demand and rising prices, but perhaps less so now than earlier in the year," said Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman in the report. "Newly listed homes are selling faster in 2017 than in 2016, but whereas in April the market was nine days faster than the 2016 market, in August it was five; the gap between 2016 and 2017 is narrowing slightly."

The report did not highlight luxury sales figures.

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Of the 75 metro areas Redfin tracks, Seattle had the nation’s highest median price growth, up 16% from last year to $522,000. It was also the fastest moving market, with nearly half of all homes pending sale in just eight days, down from 10 days in the same period last year.

Fort Lauderdale, Florida, had the second highest price growth at 15.6% year-over-year, followed by Cincinnati, Ohio, at 14.5% and Las Vegas, Nevada, at 14%. None of the metro areas tracked saw a price decline in August, the report found.

In Houston—which was hit by Hurricane Harvey in the last week of August—sales fell 29% year-over-year, as buyers backed out of purchasing homes due to concerns over flooding, the report said. Likewise some closings have been delayed to allow reinspection. Despite a 12.2% decline in new listings in Houston compared to last August, inventory was still up 5.7% compared to last year.