Home prices, sales at record pace across the nation – and in the Borderland

EL PASO, Texas -- With record-breaking demand and homes in short supply, it's triggering bidding wars around the country and here in the Borderland.

A dip in El Paso home construction during the pandemic is being blamed for soaring property values locally.

Ray Aduato with the El Paso Builders Association explained to ABC-7 that local government entities which assist in planing new home subdivisions and other housing projects have been dramatically slowed in activity due to the pandemic. As a result, there's been a decrease in the amount of new homes being built.

According to the Texas Real Estate Center at Texas A&M, the median home price in El Paso County rose from $161,000 in February 2019 to $187,975 in February of 2021, which is the most recent data available. That's a jump of nearly $27,000 in just two years.

Nationally, home prices have risen to their highest rate in 15 years, up 11. 2%. And demand is so intense that Redfin reports nearly half of homes are selling within a week of hitting the market. That's a record.

Analysts indicate the nationwide spike is also happening as a result of the pandemic, as more people work from home. Mortgage rates have also dropped and millions of millennials are entering their home-buying years.

(ABC News contributed to this report.)