Home price growth increased by inches in the first quarter of 2014, according to the National Association of Realtors.
The median existing single-family home price increased in 74 percent of measured markets in the first quarter of 2014, a one percent change from the fourth quarter of 2013, which saw 73 percent of metros record a price increase. Last year's first quarter saw 89 percent of metros show year-over-year gains.
The trend is favorable, said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun.
"The cooling rate of price growth is needed to preserve favorable housing affordability conditions in the future, but we still need more new-home construction to fully alleviate the inventory shortages in much of the country," he said in a statement. "Limited inventory is creating unsustainable and unhealthy price growth in some large markets, notably on the West Coast."
According to the NAR, the most expensive housing markets in the first quarter were: San Jose, Calif., with a median existing single-family price of $808,000; San Francisco, $679,800; Honolulu, $672,300; Anaheim-Santa Ana, Calif., $669,800; and San Diego, $483,000.
The lowest-cost metros were: Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, Ohio, $64,600; Decatur, Ill., $69,600; Toledo, Ohio, $72,100; Rockford, Ill., $73,100; and Cumberland, Md., at $81,400.
