Punta Gorda, Florida Tops List Of Biggest Jump In Home Prices
MIAMI (CBSMiami/CNN) -- The cost of buying a home rose by double-digit percentages across most of the US in the last quarter of 2021, and a Florida city tops the list of biggest jump in home prices.
According to the National Association of Realtors, the median price of a home was just under $362,000. That's up about 15% from the previous year.
The South was the standout for price growth in the fourth quarter with prices rising by 17.9% from the year before, the report showed.
Punta Gorda, just north of Fort Myers on the Southwest coast of Florida, had the biggest jump in home prices, with an increase 28.7%.
It was followed by Ocala, Florida; Austin, Texas; Phoenix; Denison, Texas; Tucson, Arizona; Las Vegas; Ogden, Utah; Salt Lake City; and Boise, Idaho, which were all up over 24% from a year earlier.
As home prices and mortgage rates continued to rise, affording a home became even more difficult during the fourth quarter. The monthly mortgage payment on a typical existing single-family home with a 20% down payment rose by $201 from a year ago to $1,240. That's about 17% of the median family income.
"Homebuyers in the last quarter saw little relief as home prices continued to climb, albeit not as fast as earlier in the year," said Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist. "The increasing prices are indicative of a seller's market, with an abundance of eager buyers and very limited supply."
The most expensive cities also got more expensive, with nine of the top 10 priciest cities seeing surges in the double digits. The most expensive real estate in 2021 could be found in San Jose, California, part of Silicon Valley, with a median home price of $1,675,000, which was up 19.6% from the previous year. It was followed by San Francisco, with a median price of $1,310,000, Anaheim, California, with a median price of $1,150,000, and urban Honolulu, Hawaii, with a median price of $1,054,500.
The rest of the top ten most expensive home markets were San Diego; Los Angeles; Boulder, Colorado; Seattle; Naples, Florida; and Long Island, New York.
Realtors believe home prices should begin to normalize later in 2022 as more homes come on the market.
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