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Nearly 85% of all US metro areas saw year-over-year price increases for single-family existing homes, down from 89% in the final quarter of 2024, according to data released Thursday by NAR
Home prices across the U.S. continued to climb in the first quarter of the year, but fewer metro areas saw steep increases, a sign that the market is cooling.
Eighty-three percent of U.S. metro areas experienced year-over-year price increases for single-family existing homes, down from 89 percent in the final quarter of 2024, according to the National Association of Realtors’ quarterly housing affordability report released Thursday.
The national median price rose 3.4 percent year over year to $402,300, while they rose 4.8 percent in the previous quarter. Thirty-year fixed mortgage rates ranged between 6.63 percent to 7.04 percent in Q1.
Only 11 percent of metro areas posted double-digit price gains, down 14 percent from the previous quarter.
“Most metro markets continue to set new record highs for home prices,” NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said in the report. “In the first quarter, the Northeast performed best in both sales and price gains by percentage. Despite the stronger job additions, the South lagged with declining sales and virtually no price appreciation.”
The South still led in overall sales volume, representing 44.9 percent of all existing-home transactions in the first quarter. However, home prices in the region increased just 1.3 percent year over year. By contrast, prices rose 10.3 percent in the Northeast, 5.2 percent in the Midwest and 4.1 percent in the West.
Some of the largest price jumps were seen in New York and Ohio. Metro areas, including Syracuse, New York (17.9 percent); Montgomery, Alabama (16.1 percent); Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, Ohio-Pennsylvania (13.6 percent); and Nassau County-Suffolk County, New York (12.0 percent) all saw double-digit increases.
The nations priciest markets remained concentrated in California, including San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara ($2,020,000; 9.8 percent); Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine ($1,450,000; 6.2%); and San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward ($1,320,000; 1.5 percent).
Yun attributed these high prices to years of home underproduction and low homeownership rates.
“Very expensive home prices partly reflect multiple years of home underproduction in those metro markets,” Yun added. “Another factor is the low homeownership rates in these areas, implying more unequal wealth distribution. Affordable markets tend to have more adequate supply and higher homeownership rates.”
Still, not all markets are on the rise. Nearly 17 percent of metro areas saw home prices decline in Q1, up from 11 percent in Q4 2024.
“A few areas where home prices declined a year or two ago are now rebounding, including Boise, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, San Francisco and Seattle,” Yun said. “Similarly, some markets currently experiencing price declines – but with solid job growth – could see prices recover in the near future, such as Austin, San Antonio, Huntsville, Myrtle Beach, Raleigh and many Florida markets.”
Affordability saw a slight improvement. Monthly mortgage payments for a typical home with a 20 percent down payment dipped to $2,120, just $2 less than the previous quarter. Still, that’s $84 more than what buyers paid a year ago. Homeowners were spending about 24.4 percent of their income on mortgage payments, slightly down from 24.8 percent in the previous quarter.
First-time buyers also saw minor relief. The monthly mortgage payment on a typical starter home valued at $342,000 came in at $2,079, down just $2 from Q4. However, those buyers were still spending a significant portion of their income — 36.8 percent on mortgage payments.
To afford a mortgage with a 10 percent down payment, households needed to earn an income of at least $100,000 in 45.1 percent of all U.S. markets. Only 3.1 percent of markets required less than $50,000 in income to afford the same down payment, highlighting just how tight affordability remains.
10 Metros Posting Highest Annual Price Gains
The Northeast is seeing some of the highest home price increases over the past year, with prices up 10.3% annually, according to NAR’s report. That’s followed by a 5.2% year-over-year gain in the Midwest and a 4.1% increase in the West. While the South accounted for the largest share of existing-home sales in the first quarter, it posted the slowest annual price appreciation, rising just 1.3% by comparison.
NAR’s report highlights the following 10 metro areas as having the largest year-over-year percentage increases in the first quarter among the nation’s 150 largest markets.
| Markets | Growth | Median Price |
|---|---|---|
| Syracuse, N.Y. | 17.9% | $234,300 |
| Montgomery, Ala. | 16.1% | $230,000 |
| Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, Ohio-Pa. | 13.6% | $161,900 |
| Nassau County-Suffolk County, N.Y. | 12.0% | $779,300 |
| Toledo, Ohio | 11.1% | $183,900 |
| Cleveland-Elyria, Ohio | 11.1% | $213,200 |
| Rochester, N.Y. | 11.1% | $235,900 |
| Gulfport-Biloxi-Pascagoula, Miss. | 10.5% | $232,900 |
| Trenton, N.J. | 10.4% | $420,100 |
| Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, Pa.-N.J. | 10.2% | $355,600 |
Small Share of Metros Post Home Price Declines
Nearly 17% of the 228 markets tracked—or 38—saw home prices decline in the first quarter. That’s up from 11% in the fourth quarter of 2024, according to NAR’s latest housing report. But Yun notes there isn’t reason for alarm.
“A few areas where home prices declined a year or two ago are now rebounding, including Boise, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, San Francisco and Seattle,” Yun says. “Similarly, some markets experiencing price declines but with solid job growth could see prices recover in the near future.” Austin, San Antonio, Huntsville, Myrtle Beach, Raleigh and many Florida markets are areas that could rebound fairly quickly, he says.
Yun points to growing housing inventory—often in Southern markets from an uptick in new-home construction—as the reason some areas have seen prices come down somewhat. “But let’s remember, prices have risen so much over recent years,” he says. “[Homeowners] are not selling in a distressed situation but still selling with a profit. … And with so much new job creation and people from other states moving into places like Florida and Texas, I think it’s going to be a short-phase decline before picking up again.” Yun notes that distress in the market—foreclosures, short sales and mortgage defaults—continue to be at historically low levels.
“It’s still a very good time to be a homeowner,” Yun says. “About 88 million homeowners across the country are consistently smiling because they’re seeing a large home price gains. This is a sizable wealth gain at a time when the stock market has undergone some volatility.”
10 Priciest Markets in the U.S.
Not surprisingly, eight of the 10 priciest markets in the U.S. are in California, proving the Golden State remains a hot spot. And many of these markets continue to see home price gains.
“Very expensive home prices partly reflect multiple years of home underproduction in those metro markets,” Yun says. “Another factor is the low homeownership rates in these areas, implying more unequal wealth distribution. Affordable markets tend to have more adequate supply and higher homeownership rates.”
NAR’s latest report revealed the following markets registered the highest home prices in the country in the first quarter:
- San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif.: $2.02 million, up 9.8% annually
- Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine, Calif.: $1.45 million, up 6.2%
- San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, Calif.: $1.32 million, up 1.5%
- Urban Honolulu, Hawaii: $1.165 million, up 7.3%
- San Diego-Carlsbad, Calif.: $1.04 million, up 5.7%
- Salinas, Calif.: $954,700, up 6.2%
- San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, Calif.: $953,400, up 4.8%
- Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, Calif.: $931,500, up 2.5%
- Naples-Immokalee-Marco Island, Fla.: $865,000, up 1.8%
- Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, Calif.: $862,600, up 4.8%