A 52-year-old man comes to the office for a routine health maintenance visit. He has no significant past medical history and takes no medications. In the waiting room, he appears relaxed and is reading a magazine. The medical assistant measures his blood pressure at 156/94 mm Hg. When informed of the result, he seems surprised and says, 'That's higher than I expected.' After resting for 10 minutes, the physician repeats the measurement and obtains 152/92 mm Hg. The patient is given a home blood pressure monitor with instructions to measure his blood pressure twice daily for 2 weeks. He returns with a detailed log showing an average reading of 118/76 mm Hg, with all individual readings below 130/80 mm Hg. He is 175 cm (5 ft 9 in) tall and weighs 74 kg (163 lb); BMI is 24 kg/m2. Physical examination shows no abnormalities.
Which of the following best describes this patient's condition?