Prices for single-family homes climbed in 87 percent of U.S. cities in the second quarter as the national housing recovery accelerated amid competition for a limited number of properties on the market.

The median transaction price rose from a year earlier in 142 of 163 metropolitan areas measured, the National Association of Realtors said in a report today. A year earlier, 75 percent of regions had gains.

Values are increasing as homebuyers, encouraged by improving employment, compete for a tight supply of listed properties. At the end of the second quarter, 2.19 million previously owned homes were available for sale, 7.6 percent fewer than a year earlier, according to the Realtors group.

“There continue to be more buyers than sellers, and that is placing pressure on home prices, with multiple bids common in some areas of the country,” Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, said in the report.

The median price for an existing single-family home was $203,500 nationally in the second quarter, up 12 percent from a year earlier. That was the biggest gain since the fourth quarter of 2005, according to the Realtors group.

Cities with tight supplies of homes for sale had the strongest price growth, the Realtors said. Eight markets were added to the report in the quarter.

Biggest Gains

The best-performing areas were Sacramento, California, and Atlanta, where prices jumped 39 percent from a year earlier. Prices rose 36 percent in Fort Myers, Florida; 33 percent in Reno, Nevada; and 31 percent in Las Vegas.

Home Prices Climb in 87% of U.S. Cities as Recovery Builds (2) – Businessweek.