Home sellers during this year’s first quarter realized a home price gain of $67,100 on the typical sale, up from $66,264 in the fourth quarter of 2019 and up from $59,000 one year ago, according to a report from ATTOM Data Solutions.
ATTOM’s First-Quarter 2020 U.S. Home Sales Report said the $67,100 typical home-seller profit represented a 33.7 percent return on investment (ROI) compared with the original purchase price, down from the post-recession high of 34.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2019 but up from 32.8 percent a year ago.
“The national housing market continued at full throttle in the first quarter of 2020, setting new price and profit records as it entered its ninth straight year of gains,” ATTOM Chief Product Officer Todd Teta said in a release. “After it looked like things were settling down last year, the market has again roared ahead, with significant increases.
“It is extremely important to note that the latest momentum is likely to hit a wall and reverse because of the drastic economic slowdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic,” Teta said. “Millions of Americans are newly unemployed, and most people are practicing social distancing, which could bring things to a halt just as the spring buying season begins. Despite that cloud, the numbers for Q1 still do remain upbeat.”
According to the report, the metropolitan areas with the highest home seller ROIs in the first quarter were in San Jose, Calif. (81.8 percent); San Francisco (67.7 percent); Seattle (63.6 percent); Spokane, Wash. (61.8 percent); and Boise, Idaho (59.1 percent).
The report said the metropolitan areas with the biggest year-over-year increases in median home prices in the first quarter were Boise (up 21.9 percent); Milwaukee (up 19.1 percent); Panama City, Fla. (up 18.4 percent); Salisbury, Md. (up 15.4 percent); and New Orleans (up 13.9 percent).
First-quarter median home prices also saw significant increases in Virginia Beach, Va. (up 13 percent); Phoenix (up 12.1 percent); Memphis, Tenn. (up 11.5 percent); Columbus, Ohio (up 11.4 percent); and Charlotte, N.C. (up 10.7 percent).
ATTOM said home prices in the first quarter hit new peaks in 17 of the 108 metropolitan areas analyzed (16 percent), including Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Diego, Orlando, Fla., and Portland, Ore.
Homeowners who sold in the first quarter of 2020 had owned their homes an average of 8.01 years, down slightly from 8.04 years in the previous quarter but up from 7.72 years in the first quarter of 2019, the report found.