Strong end to 2017 for most markets

Home prices gained 8.1% in December compared to a year earlier, completing a year with record home prices amid tight inventory

Strong end to 2017 for most markets
Home prices gained 8.1% in December compared to a year earlier, completing a year with record home prices amid tight inventory.

Fifty out of 54 markets analyzed for the latest National Housing Report from RE/MAX saw increased prices while sales dropped 3.3% year-over-year with 39 markets decreasing.

Supply continued to challenge would-be home buyers with just 3.7 months of supply, the lowest ever during the 9 years of the report, as inventory plunged 14.6%.

Homes were selling fast with the days on market nationwide averaging 57 with a median for the whole of 2017 of 52.5, down from 58.5 days for the whole of 2016.

"We see the median sales price of homes across the country rising every month, year-over-year, but the days on market and the supply of homes for sale hit record lows in December," said Adam Contos, RE/MAX Co-CEO. "If inventory keeps getting tighter across the country it'll be interesting to see how it might affect sales."

Across the 54 markets tracked, the median sales price was $232,500, up 3.1% from November and up 8.1% from December 2016.

The only four markets to show a decline in prices were: Anchorage, AK, -6.5%, Wichita, KS, -3.9%, Fargo, ND, -1.8% and Wilmington/Dover, DE, -.90%.

The markets with the strongest gains in median sales price were: San Francisco, CA, +17.8%, Las Vegas, NV, +17.1%, Seattle, WA, +13% and Boise, ID, +12.8%.