Home Price Gains Slow in Most US Cities, Realtors Group Says

Home price gains moderated in most of the U.S. in the second quarter as appreciation reached its slowest pace since 2012.

The median price fell from a year earlier in 47 of 173 metropolitan areas measured, the National Association of Realtors said in a report. Eleven percent of areas had double-digit increases, compared with 37 in the previous quarter.

Home-price appreciation is moderating as more listings come on the market and buyer demand slows. The inventory of previously owned homes for sale rose 6.5 percent in June from a year earlier to 2.3 million, according to the Realtors group. That’s up from a 13-year low of 1.8 million in January 2013.

“We’re entering this next phase of recovery where we shift down a gear to a more sustainable pace,” Paul Diggle, U.S. property economist for Capital Economics Ltd. in London, said in a phone interview before the data were released.

“It’s not something to worry about — it’s something to be welcomed. It means price gains are at a more sustainable footing that is more in line with income growth.”

The median price for an existing single-family house in the three months through June was $212,400, up 4.4 percent from the second quarter of 2013. The median price during the first quarter rose 8.3 percent from a year earlier.