With the lowest level of inventory in nearly 40 years, the 2021 spring market has homebuyers facing a level of competition not seen in a generation.

The median sales price of homes in the 53 metro areas covered by RE/MAX’s National Housing Report rose 4.5% month over month in March to $303,000, marking the first time in the 13-year history of the report that it topped $300,000.

As they come of peak age for first-time homeownership, millennials are gaining an increasing share of today’s housing market.

Privately owned housing starts jumped 19.4% from February’s revised estimate to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,739,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development

Forty-three percent of respondents to the first-quarter Zillow Home Price Expectations survey expect inventory to improve in the second half of the year, followed by 26% who expect it in the first half of 2022.

Homes listed on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday are selling for more than those listed on the weekend, but how much varies by metro area.

The housing supply shortage is expected to get more extreme as homebuyer demand continues to outweigh inventory levels, a new study found.

Rising wages and falling mortgage rates are helping keep homeownership within reach of average wage earners nationwide despite surges in housing prices.

Prices in the Chicago metro area were up 6.3% over February 2020 with “normal” market condition indicators.

Home prices posted monthly and yearly gains in January across the U.S. as well, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indices.

“The demand for a home purchase is widespread, multiple offers are prevalent, and days-on-market are swift, but contracts are not clicking due to record-low inventory.” — NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun

Much of the year-over-year increase in home sales was supported by continued robust activity in the Southeast, which saw a 20.2% rise to an annual rate of 458,000 transactions.

For the first time since March 2020, home-price growth in urban areas surpassed that of suburban and rural locations.

“Despite the drop in home sales for February — which I would attribute to historically-low inventory — the market is still outperforming pre-pandemic levels.” NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun

Chicagoland detached homes spent 78 days on the market, and attached homes were on the market an average 67 days.

The median sale price of a home in Chicago was $275,000, a 1.5% increase month over month and a 12.7% increase over last year.