The median home sale price increased 15 percent year-over-year to $320,625—the highest on record, according to a report from Redfin.
Redfin said the previous largest increase ever recorded in the Case-Shiller national home price index was 14.5 percent in September 2005.
“Large, expensive, luxury homes are taking up a bigger share of the homes that are selling, which is driving a high growth rate for the median sale price,” Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather said in a release. “Remote work is increasing demand from affluent people, while middle-income people are more often expected to do their jobs in-person, and many have been affected by furloughs and shutdowns.”
According to the report, during the 4-week period ending Oct. 4, the median asking price of new listings was up 14 percent from a year earlier, an increase from 12.9 percent during the four weeks ending Sept. 27.
Redfin said more than 45 of homes that went under contract had an accepted offer within the first two weeks on the market. Additionally, the average sale-to-list price ratio, which measures how close homes are selling to their asking prices, rose to 99.4 percent—an all-time high and 1.2 percent higher than a year earlier.
“Sellers that are just getting into the market are seeing they can set their asking price a little higher than what they may have expected because inventory is so low and the buyer pool is still growing,” San Antonio, Texas Redfin real estate agent Jim Seifert said. “Homebuying demand is still really strong, which has really pushed multiple offers to a whole new level. You’re not going to see prices go down right now.”