Graph and download economic data for Median Sales Price of Houses Sold for the United States (MSPUS) from Q1 1963 to Q1 2025 about sales, median, housing, and USA.

The average sales price of new homes in the United States experienced a slight decrease in 2024, dropping to 512,2000 U.S. dollars from the peak of 521,500 U.S. dollars in 2022. This decline came after years of substantial price increases, with the average price surpassing 400,000 U.S. dollars for the first time in 2021. The recent cooling in the housing market reflects broader economic trends and changing consumer sentiment towards homeownership. Factors influencing home prices and affordability The rapid rise in home prices over the past few years has been driven by several factors, including historically low mortgage rates and increased demand during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the market has since slowed down, with the number of home sales declining by over two million between 2021 and 2023. This decline can be attributed to rising mortgage rates and decreased affordability. The Housing Affordability Index hit a record low of 98.1 in 2023, indicating that the median-income family could no longer afford a median-priced home. Future outlook for the housing market Despite the recent cooling, experts forecast a potential recovery in the coming years. The Freddie Mac House Price Index showed a growth of 6.5 percent in 2023, which is still above the long-term average of 4.4 percent since 1990. However, homebuyer sentiment remains low across all age groups, with people aged 45 to 64 expressing the most pessimistic outlook. The median sales price of existing homes is expected to increase slightly until 2025, suggesting that affordability challenges may persist in the near future.

Graph and download economic data for Average Sales Price of Houses Sold for the United States (ASPUS) from Q1 1963 to Q1 2025 about sales, housing, and USA.

The U.S. housing market continues to evolve, with the median home price forecast to reach ******* U.S. dollars by the second quarter of 2026. This projection comes after a period of significant growth and recent fluctuations, reflecting the complex interplay of economic factors affecting the real estate sector. The rising costs have not only impacted home prices, but also down payments, with the median down payment more than doubling since 2012. Regional variations in housing costs Home prices and down payments vary dramatically across the United States. While the national median down payment stood at approximately ****** U.S. dollars in early 2024, homebuyers in states like California, Massachusetts, and Hawaii faced down payments exceeding ****** U.S. dollars. This disparity highlights the challenges of homeownership in high-cost markets and underscores the importance of location in determining housing affordability. Market dynamics and future outlook The housing market has shown signs of cooling after years of rapid growth, with more modest price increases of *** percent in 2022 and *** percent in 2023. This slowdown can be attributed in part to rising mortgage rates, which have tempered demand. Despite these challenges, most states continued to see year-over-year price growth in the fourth quarter of 2023, with Rhode Island and Vermont leading the pack at over ** percent appreciation. As the market adjusts to new economic realities, potential homebuyers and investors alike will be watching closely for signs of stabilization or renewed growth in the coming years.

Key information about House Prices Growth

• US house prices grew 5.2% YoY in Dec 2024, following an increase of 5.4% YoY in the previous quarter.
• YoY growth data is updated quarterly, available from Mar 1992 to Dec 2024, with an average growth rate of 5.4%.
• House price data reached an all-time high of 17.7% in Sep 2021 and a record low of -12.4% in Dec 2008.

In the United States, Hawaii was the state with the most expensive housing, with the typical value of single-family homes in the 35th to 65th percentile range exceeding ******* U.S. dollars. Unsurprisingly, Hawaii also ranked top as the state with the highest cost of living. Meanwhile, a property was the least expensive in West Virginia, where it cost under ******* U.S. dollars to buy the typical single-family home. Single-family home prices increased across most states in the United States between December 2023 and December 2024, except in Louisiana, Florida, and the District of Colombia. According to the Federal Housing Association, house appreciation in 13 states exceeded **** percent in 2023.

The median sales price of new homes sold in the United States increased steadily from 1965 to 2023. In 2023, a newly built home cost approximately ******* U.S. dollars. That was a decline of nearly ****** U.S. dollars and the first decrease since 2018. Prices varied greatly across different regions in the country, with the most expensive housing found in the Northeast region.

The median home sales price is the middle value of the prices for which homes are sold (both market and private transactions) within a calendar year. The median value is used as opposed to the average so that both extremely high and extremely low prices do not distort the prices for which homes are sold. This measure does not take into account the assessed value of a property.Source: First American Real Estate Solutions (FARES) and RBIntel (2022-forward)Years Available: 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023

House Price Index YoY in the United States decreased to 3 percent in April from 3.90 percent in March of 2025. This dataset includes a chart with historical data for the United States FHFA House Price Index YoY.

Existing Home Sales in the United States increased to 4030 Thousand in May from 4000 Thousand in April of 2025. This dataset provides the latest reported value for - United States Existing Home Sales - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.

The U.S. housing market has slowed, after ** consecutive years of rising home prices. In 2021, house prices surged by an unprecedented ** percent, marking the highest increase on record. However, the market has since cooled, with the Freddie Mac House Price Index showing more modest growth between 2022 and 2024. In 2024, home prices increased by *** percent. That was lower than the long-term average of *** percent since 1990. Impact of mortgage rates on homebuying The recent cooling in the housing market can be partly attributed to rising mortgage rates. After reaching a record low of **** percent in 2021, the average annual rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage more than doubled in 2023. This significant increase has made homeownership less affordable for many potential buyers, contributing to a substantial decline in home sales. Despite these challenges, forecasts suggest a potential recovery in the coming years. How much does it cost to buy a house in the U.S.? In 2023, the median sales price of an existing single-family home reached a record high of over ******* U.S. dollars. Newly built homes were even pricier, despite a slight decline in the median sales price in 2023. Naturally, home prices continue to vary significantly across the country, with West Virginia being the most affordable state for homebuyers.

The average price per square foot of floor space in new single-family housing in the United States decreased after the great financial crisis, followed by several years of stagnation. Since 2012, the price has continuously risen, hitting *** U.S. dollars per square foot in 2022. In 2024, the average sales price of a new home exceeded ******* U.S. dollars. Development of house sales in the U.S. One of the reasons for rising property prices is the gradual growth of house sales between 2011 and 2020. This period was marked by the gradual recovery following the subprime mortgage crisis and a growing housing sentiment. Another significant factor for the housing demand was the growing number of new household formations each year. Despite this trend, housing transactions plummeted in 2021, amid soaring prices and borrowing costs. In 2021, the average construction cost for single-family housing rose by nearly ** percent year-on-year, and in 2022, the increase was even higher, at close to ** percent. Financing a house purchase Mortgage interest rates in the U.S. rose dramatically in 2022 and remained elevated until 2024. In 2020, a homebuyer could lock in a 30-year fixed interest rate of under ***** percent, whereas in 2024, the average rate for the same mortgage type was more than twice higher. That has led to a decline in homebuyer sentiment, and an increasing share of the population pessimistic about buying a home in the current market.

The house price for Ontario is forecast to decrease by eight percent in 2023, followed by a minor increase of one percent in 2024. From roughly 932,000 Canadian dollars, the average house price in Canada's second most expensive province for housing is expected to fall to 861,000 Canadian dollars in 2024. After British Columbia, Ontario is Canada's most expensive province for housing. Ontario Ontario is the most populated province in Canada, located on the eastern-central side of the country. It is an English speaking province. To the south, it borders American states Minnesota, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York. Its provincial capital and largest city is Toronto. It is also home to Canada’s national capital, Ottawa. Furthermore, a large part of Ontario’s economy comes from manufacturing, as it is the leading manufacturing province in Canada. The population of Ontario has been steadily increasing since 2000. The population in 2018 was an estimated 14.3 million people. The median total family income in 2016 came to 83,160 Canadian dollars. Ontario housing market The number of housing units sold in Ontario is projected to rise until 2024. Additionally, the average home prices in Ontario have significantly increased since 2007.

Graph and download economic data for All-Transactions House Price Index for New York (NYSTHPI) from Q1 1975 to Q1 2025 about appraisers, NY, HPI, housing, price index, indexes, price, and USA.

VITAL SIGNS INDICATOR
Rent Payments (EC8)

FULL MEASURE NAME
Median rent payment

LAST UPDATED
January 2023

DESCRIPTION
Rent payments refer to the cost of leasing an apartment or home and serves as a measure of housing costs for individuals who do not own a home. The data reflect the median monthly rent paid by Bay Area households across apartments and homes of various sizes and various levels of quality. This differs from advertised rents for available apartments, which usually are higher. Note that rent can be presented using nominal or real (inflation-adjusted) dollar values; data are presented inflation-adjusted to reflect changes in household purchasing power over time.

DATA SOURCE
U.S. Census Bureau: Decennial Census - https://nhgis.org
Count 2 (1970)
Form STF1 (1980-1990)
Form SF3a (2000)

U.S. Census Bureau: American Community Survey - https://data.census.gov/
Form B25058 (2005-2021; median contract rent)

Bureau of Labor Statistics: Consumer Price Index - https://www.bls.gov/data/
1970-2021

CONTACT INFORMATION
vitalsigns.info@mtc.ca.gov

METHODOLOGY NOTES (across all datasets for this indicator)
Rent data reflects median rent payments rather than list rents (refer to measure definition above). American Community Survey 1-year data is used for larger geographies – Bay counties and most metropolitan area counties – while smaller geographies rely upon 5-year rolling average data due to their smaller sample sizes. Note that 2020 data uses the 5-year estimates because the ACS did not collect 1-year data for 2020.

1970 Census data for median rent payments has been imputed from quintiles using methodology from California Department of Finance as the source data only provided the mean, rather than the median, monthly rent. Metro area boundaries reflects today’s metro area definitions by county for consistency, rather than historical metro area boundaries.

Inflation-adjusted data are presented to illustrate how rent payments have grown relative to overall price increases; that said, the use of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) does create some challenges given the fact that housing represents a major chunk of consumer goods bundle used to calculate CPI. This reflects a methodological tradeoff between precision and accuracy and is a common concern when working with any commodity that is a major component of CPI itself.

Portugal, Canada, and the United States were the countries with the highest house price to income ratio in 2024. In all three countries, the index exceeded 130 index points, while the average for all OECD countries stood at 116.2 index points. The index measures the development of housing affordability and is calculated by dividing nominal house price by nominal disposable income per head, with 2015 set as a base year when the index amounted to 100. An index value of 120, for example, would mean that house price growth has outpaced income growth by 20 percent since 2015. How have house prices worldwide changed since the COVID-19 pandemic? House prices started to rise gradually after the global financial crisis (2007–2008), but this trend accelerated with the pandemic. The countries with advanced economies, which usually have mature housing markets, experienced stronger growth than countries with emerging economies. Real house price growth (accounting for inflation) peaked in 2022 and has since lost some of the gain. Although, many countries experienced a decline in house prices, the global house price index shows that property prices in 2023 were still substantially higher than before COVID-19. Renting vs. buying In the past, house prices have grown faster than rents. However, the home affordability has been declining notably, with a direct impact on rental prices. As people struggle to buy a property of their own, they often turn to rental accommodation. This has resulted in a growing demand for rental apartments and soaring rental prices.

The average construction cost of a single-family home in the United States was about ******* U.S. dollars in 2024, about ****** U.S. dollars more expensive than in 2022. The source also adds that interior finishes – which includes insulation, flooring, and appliances – accounted for the largest share of costs at ** percent. U.S. housing construction slows Construction work was underway on over 1,000 single-family housing units in the United States in 2024. This number increased year-on-year between 2011 and 2021, followed by a notable decline in the next two years. Despite this trend, the industry experts are optimistic about construction levels picking up until 2026. The median size of a new single-family home has also shrunk. In 2023, the average home had approximately ***** square feet of floor space, about *** square feet less than in 2015. How many homes are sold each year in the United States? Less than ************ homes were sold in the United States in 2023, the majority of which were existing home sales. The median sales price of an existing single-family home was ******* U.S. dollars in that year, a figure that has risen steadily since 2011. Those in the market for a newly constructed single-family home will have to pay more, with the median sales price at ******* U.S. dollars in 2022.

Graph and download economic data for All-Transactions House Price Index for California (CASTHPI) from Q1 1975 to Q1 2025 about appraisers, CA, HPI, housing, price index, indexes, price, and USA.

House prices grew year-on-year in most states in the U.S. in the third quarter of 2024. The District of Columbia was the only exception, with a decline of ***** percent. The annual appreciation for single-family housing in the U.S. was **** percent, while in Hawaii—the state where homes appreciated the most—the increase exceeded ** percent. How have home prices developed in recent years? House price growth in the U.S. has been going strong for years. In 2024, the median sales price of a single-family home exceeded ******* U.S. dollars, up from ******* U.S. dollars five years ago. One of the factors driving house prices was the cost of credit. The record-low federal funds effective rate allowed mortgage lenders to set mortgage interest rates as low as *** percent. With interest rates on the rise, home buying has also slowed, causing fluctuations in house prices. Why are house prices growing? Many markets in the U.S. are overheated because supply has not been able to keep up with demand. How many homes enter the housing market depends on the construction output, whereas the availability of existing homes for purchase depends on many other factors, such as the willingness of owners to sell. Furthermore, growing investor appetite in the housing sector means that prospective homebuyers have some extra competition to worry about. In certain metros, for example, the share of homes bought by investors exceeded ** percent in 2024.

In the United States, interest rates for all mortgage types started to increase in 2021. This was due to the Federal Reserve introducing a series of hikes in the federal funds rate to contain the rising inflation. In the fourth quarter of 2024, the 30-year fixed rate rose slightly, to **** percent. Despite the increase, the rate remained below the peak of **** percent in the same quarter a year ago. Why have U.S. home sales decreased? Cheaper mortgages normally encourage consumers to buy homes, while higher borrowing costs have the opposite effect. As interest rates increased in 2022, the number of existing homes sold plummeted. Soaring house prices over the past 10 years have further affected housing affordability. Between 2013 and 2023, the median price of an existing single-family home risen by about ** percent. On the other hand, the median weekly earnings have risen much slower. Comparing mortgage terms and rates Between 2008 and 2023, the average rate on a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage in the United States stood between **** and **** percent. Over the same period, a 30-year mortgage term averaged a fixed-rate of between **** and **** percent. Rates on 15-year loan terms are lower to encourage a quicker repayment, which helps to improve a homeowner’s equity.