U.S. home prices increased 2.9 percent year-over-year in January, reaching a median of $285,900, according to a report from Redfin.
The January increase was an improvement from the 1.5 percent year-over-year increase in December, the smallest year-over-year price increase since March 2012.
“Things are looking good for buyers in 2019. The supply of homes for sale is increasing faster than it has in nearly four years,” Redfin Chief
Economist Daryl Fairweather said in a release. “December was a rough month for home sales, but homeowners appear to be undeterred in the new year as more are listing their homes for sale.
“We predicted price growth would slow down and that prices would drop in coastal cities like San Francisco and Seattle, but we didn't know how sellers would react to a cooler market,” Fairweather added. “It’s encouraging to see that listings are up – it means that sellers aren't taking the ball and going home.”
According to the report, home prices fell year-over-year in January in 10 of the 81 largest metro areas, including San Francisco (-5.0%), and Portland, Ore. (-1.3%).
Completed home sales nationally fell for the sixth consecutive month in January, down 7.6 percent from a year earlier. Home sales declined in 57 of the 81 largest metro areas, the report found.
Redfin said the number of homes newly listed for sale in January rose from a year earlier (+4.4%), helping to push the total number of homes for sale up 6.3 percent, the biggest supply increase since May 2015.