Single-family home prices rise to record high

A pressure on prices has landed most prominently on the market for single-family homes, the annual growth of home prices in that category rising more in the last three months since any previous year dating back to 1969.

Homes sales continued to climb in September, no shortage of buyer yet despite COVID-19 and an unrelenting inventory shortage.

Building on an already strong pace set in July and August, sales figures in September rose at their fastest annual rate since 2010, when the housing market was just beginning its slow recovery from the Great Recession.

Heavy competition for the few homes available – due in part to low mortgage rates and a wave of millennials advancing to home-owners – placed remarkable upward pressure on prices, particularly for single-family homes.

Annual growth of single-family home prices has risen by more in the last three months than in any previously recorded period dating back to 1969.

This rapid growth in sales may ultimately be done in by an inventory crunch that’s only getting worse — its hard to keep setting sales records when there’s so little for sale — forcing a slowdown in transactions in the coming months. But with demand for housing as high as it is, it’s unlikely that a slowdown in sales will be substantial.