most U.S. metro home markets experienced price increases

[GON]

It is now 2026, for five straight years, some have made a point stating single family home prices are going to collapse. There has been some correction, and those corrections are in markets that had some of the highest/ blockbuster appreciations. I continue to monitor real estate daily- and if a seller has a fully updated home, with a nice floorplan, and a good lot-- that home will go under contract in under 48 hours after listing.

We waited four years for single family home prices to come down, and gave up waiting in the summer of 2024. We could no longer stomach having money in CDs to buy a home, that was appreciating much less than single family homes. Our subdivision has a high turnover of homes annually. Current sales in our subdivision indicate our home will sell for 15-20 percent more than we paid for it in the summer of 2024.

If you are in for the long term- surely looks like a great time to buy a single family home. It takes a lot of time, effort and patience to find a home that is right for buying.

168 out of 230 (73%) surveyed U.S. metro markets experienced year-over-year home price increases increases in the fourth quarter of 2025. The national median existing single-family home price rose 1.2% to $414,900, with gains driven by slightly better affordability, although price declines occurred in about 25% of markets, particularly in the South and West.

While 73% of markets saw increases, roughly 25% experienced price softening, providing some opportunities for buyers. This data indicates a cooling phase for the housing market, where the rapid appreciation seen in previous years is slowing down while still posting gains in most regions. This data from realtor dot com.
“While most metro markets continue to see record-high housing wealth, some areas are experiencing home price declines,” says NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. “These declining markets are concentrated primarily in Florida and Texas, where robust supply and recent home construction are increasing competition among sellers to attract buyers.”

In addition to Florida and Texas, Colorado markets showed notable price declines in the latest data, and weakness continued to spread in California, where an inventory buildup has weighed on prices.
Here is the realtor dot com link for the source commentary and data:
https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/home-prices-trends-nar-q4-2025/

 

[JeffKeryk]

@GON, I bought the worst house in my neighborhood, and it took all I had to swing the deal. It was a risk in so many ways.
One of the luckiest decisions I ever made. Wifey and I flat-out love it here.

 

[GON]

@GON, I bought the worst house in my neighborhood, and it took all I had to swing the deal. It was a risk is so many ways.
One of the luckiest decisions I ever made. Wifey and I flat-out love it here.

@JeffKeryk , congrats on your loving your community.

The real estate rules for coastal and like areas in California are different than the rules for Orlando, FL... Atlanta, GA .... St Louis, MO.... Denver, Co etc. The real estate rules for Los Gatos, SLO, Malibu, Huntington Beach, San Diego better reflect the rules for places like Maui, not Cleveland.

 

[JeffKeryk]

@JeffKeryk , congrats on your loving your community.

The real estate rules for coastal and like areas in California are different than the rules for Orlando, FL... Atlanta, GA .... St Louis, MO.... Denver, Co etc. The real estate rules for Los Gatos, SLO, Malibu, Huntington Beach, San Diego better reflect the rules for places like Maui, not Cleveland.

And 330+ days of sunshine ain't too shabby either...

 

[daves87rs]

Does not help half of them are turning into rentals. Costs will never go down……

 

[zzyzzx]

When only rich people can afford to buy houses, of course prices are going to appear to rise.

 

[zzyzzx]

https://www.redfin.com/news/buyers-vs-sellers-december-2025/
Home Sellers Outnumber Buyers By a Record Margin

 

[zzyzzx]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/real-es...g-sellers-markets-economy-housing-market.html

Panic sets in as revealing map shows only SEVEN metro areas across the entire United States are sellers' markets... while all the rest are set to see house prices tumble​

 

[alarmguy]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/real-es...g-sellers-markets-economy-housing-market.html

Panic sets in as revealing map shows only SEVEN metro areas across the entire United States are sellers' markets... while all the rest are set to see house prices tumble​

Born, raised, spent my whole life there as a business owner and ultimately real estate practice. Moved away almost 20 years ago.
Great place to grow up and spend most my life, but like vast amount of people in my community here, they are from up there!

Property taxes easy over $1000 plus a month, $500,000 to $600,000 gets you a fixer upper (and most likely a bidding war)
$700,000 gets you a mostly respectable small less than 1800 sq ft home, (sometimes much smaller and a bidding war) on a 60 x 100 foot lot/ A nicely updated one will push $800,000 larger homes easy pushes over 1 million depending on how updated. Yet it's the strongest sellers market in the USA.
This is why I always say, homes are affordable, as you would not have these prices if the public couldnt afford them.

"Nassau County, NY, is the strongest seller's market, with buyers outnumbering sellers by around 40 percent — meaning there are about 140 active buyers for every 100 homes listed for sale."

 

[cptbarkey]

Newsflash: sellers want to control the market narrative since the stone age.

 

[alarmguy]

Newsflash: sellers want to control the market narrative since the stone age.

They both do, buyers and sellers. The amount of inventory decides who wins that battle.

 

[nickaluch]

Living in Nassau county NY the price wars for the little housing inventory available is shocking to say the least.

 

[JeffKeryk]

When only rich people can afford to buy houses, of course prices are going to appear to rise.

Ya know, while it is nice to see the appreciation in our homes, people gotta have a place to live. Just my 2 cents.

 

[alarmguy]

When only rich people can afford to buy houses, of course prices are going to appear to rise.

Rich is subjective.
If someone cant afford to buy a home they have to figure out what they are doing wrong compared to those who can buy and own homes. Not to sound insensitive to some but the vast majority do buy homes and that is the American dream for many people. The ones who can't have to figure it out. There is vast opportunity in the USA

 

[UGASpike]

We waited four years for single family home prices to come down, and gave up waiting in the summer of 2024. We could no longer stomach having money in CDs to buy a home, that was appreciating much less than single family homes. Our subdivision has a high turnover of homes annually. Current sales in our subdivision indicate our home will sell for 15-20 percent more than we paid for it in the summer of 2024.

Same situation for us. We purchased April 2024.

 

[Owen Lucas]

When only rich people can afford to buy houses, of course prices are going to appear to rise.

Something needs to change!

 

[fdcg27]

See this data:

The number of transactions has declined significantly, so what we may be seeing is no more than a supply squeeze bringing increased sales prices in most markets.
New home sales are at a lower level on a population adjusted basis than they have been in any non-recessionary economy going back to the early sixties.

 

[PandaBear]

There are a few dimension to everything here. Prices do go up and down based on interest rate, economic cycle, etc. Also the thing about real estate is it serves as both a place to live as well as a speculative investment. Sometimes it is a good deal to buy and sometimes it is a good deal to rent, and if you are too aggressive or too conservative you can lose your shirt on either foreclosure or priced out of the market. I want to see people compare home price vs rent and S&P 500. I personally would look at gold as well but that's not a fair comparison.

I always suggest people to do what they can afford to do and do it for the long term (10 years ownership) to ride out any booms and busts. It is ok to be renting if you are financially discipline and invest elsewhere instead. It is however not a good idea to borrow too much and lose everything and then some more with bad loans like credit card to cover living expense.

My advice to people who insist on a good school district because their kids can't wait, is to just rent for those few years they need that, and buy a home afterward where you want to live and can afford.

 

[JeffKeryk]

My advice is buy the best neighborhood you can. That property is less susceptible to downturns, is safer and is more likely to appreciate.
It's just that simple.

Is buying a risk? Sure, but renting is paying someone else's mortgage and you are guaranteed to never see that money again.

 

[Frankrank]

WSJ article today reporting a 8.4% drop in January home sales. How long until the ridiculous prices drop?
Here is the story. Behind a paywall. WSJ allows subscriber's a gift unlock.

https://www.wsj.com/economy/housing...1?st=34k2AT&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink