Less than a day after real estate agent Andrea White listed a three-bedroom home for sale in Sacramento, California, in March, she received a fully cash offer. The buyer, who had not even seen the house in person, was willing to pay $ 520,000, Ms. White said. That was $ 21,000 above the purchase price and 37% more than the seller had paid for the ranch-style house just two years ago.
Accepting the offer was the easiest. Mrs. White had to call 17 other agents who had scheduled visits around the house to let them know she was out of the market.
Mrs. White, who works for the Redfin Corp. brokerage. and has been an agent since 2014, he has never seen anything like the sales craze that gripped his northern California city. “It’s exhausting,” he said. “I’m speechless. It’s heartbreaking for buyers; it’s a celebration for sellers.”
Last year has been the hottest sales activity in 14 years. Home values are rising in virtually every corner of the U.S. and median selling prices in dozens of metropolitan areas have seen double-digit percentage increases from a year ago, according to Zillow Group Inc. In Boise, Idaho, the average selling price rose nearly 25% in January from the previous year, while in Stamford, Conn., It rose 19%.
“Prices have gone up pretty much everywhere,” said Mark Vitner, a senior economist at Wells Fargo & Co.