MNI DATA BRIEF: US Existing Home Prices Surge to All-Time High

The price of an existing home in the U.S. accelerated to an all-time high in March, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday, hurting home ownership rates and dampening overall sales. The national median home price rose to USD329,100, up 17.2% from one year ago and the fastest price appreciation "we have ever seen," NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun told reporters.

That's partially because more expensive homes were sold through March, Yun said, with homes priced at USD1 million and above essentially doubling from the year before.

Inventory remains "very tight," Yun said, and just 1.07 million homes were available at the end of March, up slightly from February. That inventory would be exhausted in 2.1 months if sales continued at their current pace and the average existing home in March spent just 18 days on the market, an all-time low that signals substantial demand for housing despite surging prices. Existing home sales fell 3.7% in March to a seasonally adjust annual rate of 6.01 million, down from February's 6.2 million pace.