For the first time in nearly a year, the average home sold above list price, fueling bidding wars in some markets.

As more owners continue to hang onto their houses, home values locally and across the nation have reached a new peak, but it comes at a cost.

Despite the declining rate of increase, home prices have risen for the last 136 months, CoreLogic said. 

For the first time in almost 12 months, the average U.S. home is selling above its asking price, as the average sale-to-list price ratio hit 100.1% earlier this month

Illinois had an average price per square foot of $183.

Transactions that do go through are typically seeing multiple offers, NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said. 

A third consecutive month of increases in the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index lends new evidence to claims that previous declines could be behind the market. 

Demand for newly built homes has remained strong as high interest rates keep many would-be sellers of existing homes off the market. 

At the same time, the median existing-home price for all housing types slid 3.1% year over year to $396,100. 

Motivations for homeownership are varied across generations: Gen Z and Boomers made the decision for better living conditions, while Gen X and Millennials were in search of stability they couldn’t get while renting.

“Paint is a relatively affordable and easy change, yet it has an outsized impact on a buyer’s perception of the home,” said Amanda Pendleton, home trends expert at Zillow.

The larger-than-expected increase comes as homebuilder sentiment rose for the sixth month in a row. 

There are nearly 40% fewer homes for sale now than before the pandemic began.

Homebuyer competition is driving up prices, as inventory constraints continue to plague the real estate market.

Homes affordable to middle-income buyers — defined as households earning up to $75,000 — fall in the $256,000-to-$320,000 range. But of the over one million U.S. homes on the market at the end of April, less than a quarter of all listings were within that price range.

Chicago listings were down 18.5% from last year.