SAN JOSE, CA—Nationally, home prices continue to climb - indicating a more comprehensive, generalized real estate recovery than a year ago, according to the May 2014 National Housing Trend Report released this week by realtor.com, the leader in providing consumers the most accurate U.S. residential listings online.
May's housing report shows all but eight of 146 markets reporting year-over-year price increases. This May's housing market stands in significant contrast to last year in which price increases were less generalized and more concentrated in specific metropolitan areas. This broad increase in price suggests a more evenly distributed recovery and a healthier national housing market. Move, Inc. operates realtor.com.

The median listing price of homes in May 2014 rose 8% over last year to $214,900, according to realtor.com. Median age of inventory is 78 days - the same as it was during the localized inventory shortages experienced last year. May home inventories are down 5.8% compared with a year ago.
An important metric - median age of housing inventory - is identical for this May and last May, as consumer demand continues to move homes in 2014 as quickly as last year.

"Home prices are as high as they are because of the low inventory spread across the nation," said Steve Berkowitz, Move's chief executive officer. "But we are not seeing the runaway pricing of last year. Nor is the situation exclusive to the hotbed markets of recent years."

National Key Market Indicators for May 2014

              May 2014          Year-over-Year      Month-over-Month

                                  Percentage          Percentage Change

                                  Change
                                  ------

    Number
    of
    Listings          1,743,065                -5.8%                  -0.4%
    ---------          ---------                ----                    ----

    Median
    Age of
    Inventory                78                0.0%                  -4.9%
    ----------                ---                  ---                    ----

    Median
    List
    Price              $214,900                8.0%                    2.4%
    ------              --------                  ---                      ---
10 Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) with the Greatest Median List Price Increases, Year over Year



    MSA          Median Listing Price    % YY      Total Listings        % YY
    ---          --------------------    ----      --------------        ----

    Stockton-
    Lodi,
    CA                          $285,000      42.7%                1,291      -38.0%
    ---------                  --------      ----                  -----        -----

    Las
    Vegas,
    NV-
    AZ(NV)                      $186,085      24.1%                12,564      -28.0%
    ------                      --------      ----                ------        -----

    Houston,
    TX                          $245,000      23.1%                16,687      -32.0%
    --------                    --------      ----                ------        -----

    Reno,
    NV                          $289,900      22.9%                2,377        3.0%
    -----                      --------      ----                  -----          ---

    Denver,
    CO                          $349,900      20.7%                5,930      -20.0%
    -------                    --------      ----                  -----        -----

    Riverside-
    San
    Bernardino,
    CA                          $309,900      19.7%                18,010        20.0%
    -----------                --------      ----                ------        ----

    West-
    AZ-
    RSA                        $328,950      19.6%                2,312        16.0%
    -----                      --------      ----                  -----        ----

    Sacramento,
    CA                          $340,000      19.3%                6,110      -27.0%
    -----------                --------      ----                  -----        -----

    Boulder-
    Longmont,
    CO                          $465,000      19.3%                1,569      -34.0%
    ---------                  --------      ----                  -----        -----

    San
    Diego,
    CA                          $500,250      17.7%                6,571      -15.0%
    ------                      --------      ----                  -----        -----

Locally, inventory shortages have not reached the levels of a year ago. In May 2014, only three markets - Stockton-Lodi, California; Boulder-Longmont, Colorado; and Houston, Texas - reported year-over-year inventory declines in excess of 29%. By contrast, nine markets had inventory deficits of 29% or more in May 2013.

California markets that registered very large declines last year - such as Santa Barbara, Oakland, and Riverside San Bernardino - are reporting increased inventory this year. Last year, some of these markets were seeing extreme situations where prices were up more than 20% while inventory was down over 25%.

Realtor.com regularly tracks real estate data and develops monthly reports featuring the number of listings, median age of inventory, and median list price across the U.S. and in specific markets, as well as provides year-over-year and month-over-month changes. These reports are the only ones pulled directly from the realtor.com database, where 90% of listings are updated every 15 minutes from more than 800 MLSs.