Kevin Sears President | Official website
In the second quarter of 2025, 75% of U.S. metro areas experienced increases in home prices, according to new data from the National Association of Realtors (NAR). This marks a decline from the previous quarter, when 83% of metro markets posted gains. The NAR’s Metropolitan Median Area Prices and Affordability and Housing Affordability Index also shows that only 5% of metro areas saw double-digit price growth in the latest quarter, down from 11% at the start of the year.
The national median price for existing single-family homes reached a record $429,400, representing a 1.7% increase compared to one year ago. This is a slower pace than the first quarter’s 3.4% annual rise.
Regionally, prices varied: the Northeast had a median price of $527,200 (up 6.1%), the Midwest reached $328,800 (up 3.5%), and the West recorded $646,100 (up 0.6%). The South remained flat at $376,300.
NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun explained regional trends: "Home prices have been rising faster in the Midwest, due to affordability, and the Northeast, due to limited inventory," said Yun. "The South region – especially Florida and Texas – is experiencing a price correction due to the increase in new home construction in recent years."
Yun noted broader economic factors impacting housing: "Home sales and the homeownership rate are underperforming relative to job growth," he said. "There have been over 7 million net job additions compared to the pre-COVID peak. However, elevated mortgage rates have kept home sales below pre-COVID levels. The homeownership rate has fallen by a full percentage point since early 2023."
He added that if borrowing costs fall, demand could rise sharply in certain states: "If interest rates decline, the strongest release of pent-up housing demand is likely to occur in states with significant job growth in recent years, such as Idaho, Utah, the Carolinas, Florida, and Texas."
Among large metro areas with notable price gains were Toledo and Jackson (both up 10.5%), Nassau County-Suffolk County (9.6%), New Haven-Milford (9%), Reading (8.3%), Springfield (8.2%), Akron (8.1%), Montgomery (7.9%), Cleveland-Elyria (7.8%) and Rochester (7.8%).
The ten most expensive markets included San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara ($2,138,000), Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine ($1,431,500), San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward ($1,426,000), Urban Honolulu ($1,148,600), San Diego-Carlsbad ($1,025,000), Salinas-Monterey ($978,400), Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura ($958,100), San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles ($928,000), Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale ($879,900) and Boulder ($859,500).
Affordability continued to be an issue for many buyers across regions as well as first-time purchasers.
About one-quarter of all markets saw declining prices this quarter—an increase from last quarter’s share.
Typical monthly mortgage payments on an existing single-family home with a 20% down payment rose to $2,256—a quarterly jump but slightly lower than last year at this time.
On average nationally families spent about 25.7% of their income on these payments; this was higher than last quarter but less than last year.
For first-time buyers purchasing starter homes valued at $365,000 with a 10% down payment—the monthly mortgage cost was $2,212 for Q2—$134 more than Q1 but slightly less than last year; these buyers now spend nearly 39% of their income on housing costs.
Additional details including data tables for metropolitan area prices are available through NAR's research portal at https://www.nar.realtor/research-and-statistics/housing-statistics/metropolitan-median-area-prices-and-affordability.
Definitions for metropolitan statistical areas can be found via resources from federal agencies such as https://www.census.gov/geographies/reference-files/time-series/demo/metro-micro/delineation-files.html.
