Home Prices Just Did Something That They Have Never Done Before
Francesco Abbruzzino, The Uncensored Report, LLC
Everyone knew that home prices were going crazy, and now we have some solid numbers that are simply incredible. Home prices are rising faster than they ever have before, and so if you are shopping for a home in this environment I truly feel sorry for you. In many parts of the country, average hard working American families have already been completely priced out of the market. Prior to the pandemic, the largest price bubbles were in major urban areas along both coasts, but now desirable rural and suburban communities all over the nation are red hot. In some cases, we have seen wild bidding wars that result in buyers paying more than a million dollars over asking price, and this unprecedented frenzy is pushing home prices to dizzying heights.
On Tuesday, the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller home price data for the month of April was released, and it quickly made headlines all across America…
U.S. home prices jumped the most in more than 30 years in April.
Nationally, the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller index of property values climbed 14.6% from a year earlier, according to a statement Tuesday, the biggest gain in data going back to 1988. That came after 13.2% increase in March, and was the 11th straight month that price gains accelerated.
This particular series of data only goes back to 1988, and in all that time we have never seen a rise of this magnitude.
One expert that is being quoted by CNBC is calling the rise in prices “truly extraordinary”…
“April’s performance was truly extraordinary. The 14.6% gain in the National Composite is literally the highest reading in more than 30 years of S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller data,” said Craig Lazzara, managing director and global head of index investment strategy at S&P Dow Jones Indices.
Redfin has also released new numbers, and their numbers show an even faster rate of increase for home prices…
… it makes sense that home prices are also surging thanks to trillions in stimmy checks, near-record low mortgage rates and an exodus away from cities, and as we noted two last month that’s precisely what they are doing, with Redfin reporting an 18% jump in median home sale prices to an all time high…
… as a record 58% of all houses sell within two weeks of listing, of which 45% sell for more than their listing price, also a record.
But don’t worry about these numbers. Officials at the Federal Reserve insist that inflation is “low” and that they have everything under control.