U.S. Home Prices End First Half of Year on Stronger Note, Radian Home Price Index Reveals

Home prices across the United States rose in the first six months of the year at an annualized rate of 6.3 percent, according to Radian Home Price Index (HPI) data released today by Red Bell Real Estate, LLC, a Radian Group Inc. company (NYSE: RDN). The Radian HPI is the most comprehensive and timely measure of U.S. housing market prices and conditions.

The Radian HPI also rose 8.1 percent year-over-year (July 2019 to June 2020), which was slightly higher than the year-over-year increase of 7.8 percent recorded last month. The annualized increase represents a resumption of a general upward trend in annualized yearly gains. The Radian HPI is calculated based on the estimated values of more than 70 million unique addresses each month, covering all single-family property types and geographies.

“While there has been localized volatility in home prices during the pandemic, prices overall have remained quite resilient. After gains across the U.S. slowed in May, the first half of the year ended on an impressive note, especially given the significant headwinds real estate transactions have faced,” noted Steve Gaenzler, SVP of Data and Analytics.

Nationally, the number of closed real estate sales was higher in the final week of June than in the same week of 2019. That marked the first time since the end of March that weekly counts of closings were higher in 2020 than 2019. Gaenzler added that “the recent surge in places where COVID cases are growing may alter the current path of strong home prices, but we didn’t see that result in the first half of the year.”

NATIONAL DATA AND TRENDS

• Median home price in the U.S. rose to $256,740 in June
• Home prices rose an annualized 6.6 percent during the second quarter

Nationally, the median estimated price for single-family and condominium homes rose to $256,740 in June from the $254,826 recorded in May. Across the U.S., home prices rose 6.6 percent in the second quarter, a slight increase over the first-quarter gain. Distressed sales in June 2020 represented 5.1 percent of all sales, with REO accounting for 4.4 percent of the distressed sales. This is a decrease from May, when distressed sales represented 6.0 percent of sales, with REO sales at 5.2 percent. While homeowner equity remains at or near record levels, distressed sales will likely increase in the coming months as national unemployment rates remain elevated.