By Conor Dougherty | The Wall Street Journal
Many of the hottest U.S. real-estate markets started to cool in last year’s fourth quarter as higher interest rates and sticker shock pushed some buyers to the sidelines.
Overall, the median price of an existing home rose 10.1% in the fourth quarter to $196,900 from a year earlier, according to a report released Tuesday by the National Association of Realtors, which tracked 164 markets. In the third quarter the median price rose 12.5%.
Slightly less than three out of four markets saw year-over-year price gains in the fourth quarter and about a quarter saw double-digit percentage increases. In the third quarter, about 88% of markets saw year-over-year price increases, a third with double digits.
