High-end homes selling 50 percent over last year

Not only have sale prices for existing homes and builder confidence risen in recent months, but sales of high-end homes have exploded, year-over-year, according to data from the National Association of Realtors cited by NBC News. Sales of homes priced above $750,000 grew 50 percent from a year ago, even as sales of the lowest-end homes, which are largely distressed, fell 4 percent, according to the realtor group.

The surge of pricey home sales has even pushed the median home price nationally to $180,600 — a 10.1 percent increase from November of 2011. However, NAR defined median as half of homes selling higher than $180,600 and half selling lower, which does not compare the sale prices of homes selling now to similar homes selling a year ago, but to the median of all sale prices nationally, skewing the number toward which types of homes are selling.

Sign Up for the undefined Newsletter

“An increase in the median price has a direct effect on the economy and economic growth,” Lawrence Yun, the Realtors’ chief economist, said. [NBC News]Christopher Cameron