Home Prices Fell in Third of the U.S. During First Quarter

Home prices fell in more parts of the U.S. than they have in over a decade during the first quarter, when nearly a third of metro areas posted annual price declines, the National Association of Realtors said Tuesday.

The hardest-hit housing markets were concentrated in California and the Mountain West. San Francisco posted a 14.5% median single-family existing-home sale-price decline compared with a year earlier, and San Jose median prices fell 13.7%. Pandemic boomtowns Austin, Texas, and Boise, Idaho, also posted price declines of more than 10%.

Nationwide, the median single-family existing-home sale price fell 0.2% in the first quarter from a year earlier to $371,200, the first year-over-year price decline since the first quarter of 2012, NAR said.

First-time home buyers Kris Vierhaus and Travis Carter viewed a three-bedroom home in San Mateo, Calif., in December but thought it was overpriced. In February, when the house was still on the market, they put in an offer and bought it for about 4% under the listing price.

Median prices rose by more than 10% from a year earlier in 7% of the 221 metro areas, a deceleration from the fourth quarter, when 18% of metro areas reported double-digit-percentage growth, NAR said.

In the first quarter, the typical monthly mortgage payment for a single-family home rose to $1,859, a 33% increase from $1,397 a year earlier, NAR said.

The Kingsport, Tenn., metro area posted the strongest median-price increase in the first quarter, up 18.9% from a year earlier, according to NAR. Following Kingsport was the Oshkosh, Wis., metro area, up 16.5%, and Warner Robins, Ga., up 16.2%.

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