Homeowners who sold in September pocked $26,000 more than those who sold in September last year. But if you look at the average sales price the gain it’s almost $40,000.  

The median offers a better picture than the average sales price because of the skew caused by a spike in up-market sales. An example of that spike is the sales of homes with a price of $500,000 and up. They have increased 139.8% during the first nine months of this year. 

Appreciation of the middle of the market (the median sales price) illustrated how basement-level mortgage rates gave buyers more purchasing power, and the surge of out-of-state people moving to the region moved market prices higher.  

And a comparison of the discounts from the median listing price during the first nine months of this year compared to last year show how higher prices have prevailed. So far this year, the average discount has been 5.7% compared to 15.6% last year.  

Some of the craziness is now beginning to wear off the market. The sales pace has softened. Inventory is slowly increasing. And while there a still multiple offers, there are as many of them. Economists expect mortgage rates to rise to 4% next year, which should exert downward pressure on prices and take the edge off the double-digit growth that has been recorded so far this year.