National property broker Redfin has just reported that the national median home sale price in the US hit a record high of $353,000 in March 2021, up 17% from March 2020 and a record high rate of growth.

The US housing market set several other records in March 2021, even considering the fact that year-over-year comparisons are now looking at the start of the pandemic:

• The number of homes for sale fell to a record low, with a record year-over-year drop of 29%.
• The typical home sold in just 25 days, a record low.
• 42% of homes sold above their list price, a record high.
• The average sale-to-list ratio, a measure of how close homes are selling to their asking prices, hit a record high, passing 100% for the first time.

Median sale prices increased from a year earlier in all but two of the 85 largest metro areas Redfin tracks. The only places prices didn't increase were Honolulu, where they fell 4.7% from a year ago and San Francisco, where they were down 1.6%. The largest price increases were in Austin, TX (+28%), Fresno, CA (+23%) and North Port, FL (+23%), three popular destinations for newly-remote workers who have been leaving the most expensive metro areas during the pandemic in search of more affordable homes.