A typical American home’s value is now up 31 percent – nearly $77,000 – since the onset of the pandemic, according to new data, although the Washington region is slightly trailing national appreciation.
Over the past year alone, home values have increased 19.9 percent, according to data compiled by Zillow and reported Feb. 16. The national average price, from Zillow’s calculations, is $325,677.
During the one-year period, the average sales price in the Washington region also increased, but at a lower rate. The region’s average sales price of $529,871 was up 11.6 percent.
After getting something of a break at the tail end of 2021, prospective purchasers are again finding strong competition and a lack of available inventory. The number of homes on the market today is off 40 percent from pre-pandemic levels of early 2020.
“The rising heat in the market is widespread,” noted Zillow analysts, who pointed to areas like San Diego, Nashville and Las Vegas, where average prices rose 2.5 percent just in the last month.
In year-over-year data among the nation’s largest urban areas, home values in Austin rose a whopping 45.8 percent to $558,699, according to the Zillow analysis of sales.
Other hot areas were not far behind:
• The average sales price of $434,184 in Phoenix was up 30.7 percent from a year before.
• The average sales price of $334,537 in Tampa was up 30.5 percent.
• The average sales price in Las Vegas was up 28.5 percent to $405,542.
• The average sales price in Charlotte was up 27.7 percent to $344,238.
• The average sales price in Atlanta was up 28.6 percent to $344,420.
Many analysts are suggesting that the 2022 home-sales market will be strong, but not quite so robust in terms of home-value appreciation as 2021. But the Zillow data suggest that the market has picked back up and could be on the road to another hot year.