Home sellers booked a profit of $61,000 on average from the sale of their homes in 2018, up from $50,000 in the prior year. The gain was $39,500 in 2016, the highest level since 2006.

The 2018 performance represented an average 32.6 percent return on investment compared to the original purchase price, up from 27.0 percent last year and up from 21.9 percent in 2016, according to the “Year-End 2018 U.S. Home Sales Report” from Attom Data Solutions.

"The economy is still going strong and home loan rates remain historically low. But there are potential clouds on the horizon,” said Todd Teta, chief product officer at Attom Data Solutions. “The effects of last year's tax cuts are wearing off as limits on homeowner tax deductions are in place and mortgage rates are ticking up ever so slowly, so this could dampen the potential for home price gains in 2019."

Among 217 metropolitan statistical areas with a population greater than 200,000 and sufficient historical data, the highest returns on investment were almost exclusively in western states, with concentrations along areas of the west coast. Those with the highest average home seller returns were San Jose, Calif. (108.8 percent); San Francisco, (78.6 percent); Seattle (70.7 percent); Merced, Calif. (66.4 percent); and Santa Rosa, Calif. (66.1 percent).

San Jose and Las Vegas lead major metros in home price appreciation
The U.S. median home price in 2018 was $248,000, up 5.5 percent from 2017 to a new all-time high. Annual home price appreciation in 2018 slowed slightly compared to the 7.1 percent in 2017.

Along with San Jose and Las Vegas, other major metro areas with a population of at least 1 million with a double-digit percentage increase in home prices in 2018 were Grand Rapids, Mich. (10.6 percent); San Francisco (10.3 percent); Columbus, Ohio (10.1 percent); and Atlanta (10.1 percent). Fully 88 of the 127 metros (69 percent) reached new record home price peaks in 2018, including Los Angeles, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Atlanta, and Boston.