By Andy Dean Photography @ Shutterstock.com

Home prices in 91% of American metropolitan areas increased during the first quarter, and at faster rates. Prashant Gopal reports at Bloomberg:

The median price of an existing single-family home rose from a year earlier in 162 of the 178 areas measured, the group said in a report Monday. The national median was $245,500, which is up 5.7 percent from the first quarter of 2017. The number of regions with double-digit gains jumped to 30 percent from 15 percent in the fourth quarter.

Home values have increased steadily as job growth boosts demand for a record-low supply of properties on the market. While the lack of choices is constraining the market, what’s available is going fast. Previously owned homes that sold in March were on the market for less than a month, according to data from the Realtors group.

Read more here.