Home prices

Uncover how high-speed internet access drives property valuations, creates lending opportunities, and transforms mortgage markets nationwide.

A national measure of prices rose 1.5% from a year earlier, according to data from S&P Cotality Case-Shiller. It was the smallest gain since mid-2023 and followed a 1.6% increase in July. 

The average starter home was sold for more than $206,000 in August, yet sales increased by nearly 4% from last year, according to a Redfin report.

The recent decline in mortgage rates and rising incomes helped improve buyer affordability, but record home prices remain formidable obstacles.

While equity still sits near historic highs, price growth moderation led to shrinkage of the total amount available and a rise in underwater mortgages.

Consumer prices rose 0.4% in August, up from 0.2% in July, as weak job growth and lingering tariff uncertainty reinforce expectations for a September Fed rate cut.

A headline-grabbing 2022 lawsuit alleging racial bias by home appraisers has been quietly dismissed for lack of evidence. At the same time, the Trump administration is rolling back many of the policy changes involving home appraisals that the Biden administration put in place.

The tax delinquency rate hit a seven-year high last year with residents of some states seeing amounts owed increasing by more than 50% since 2019.

President Trump and his administration have begun to scrap new mortgage lending guidelines that made it easier for home buyers and sellers to dispute property appraisals, finding that homes owned by racial minorities are routinely valued lower than comparable homes with white owners. But despite the promised regulatory relief, many mortgage lenders say the regulatory changes will not impact their lending practices.

While Sunbelt markets were more likely to see softening property values, the Northeast saw growth continue, according to Intercontinental Exchange.

While more consumers expect purchase conditions to improve, potential job loss weighs on the mind of a growing number of likely homebuyers, Fannie Mae found.

While Fannie Mae sees improving buying and selling conditions, more consumers still think prices will rise over the coming year.

Following an appearance on Fox Business by NAHB's CEO this week, the U.S. Lumber Coalition labeled the homebuilding trade group a Canadian ally.

The run-up in prices since the pandemic, and mortgage rates hovering near 7%, have squeezed affordability for house hunters, pushing many to the sidelines.

Rapidly rising tuition and housing costs both contributed to lower homeownership rates and a more than twofold surge in student debt in under 15 years.

The national median single-family existing-home price grew 3.4% from a year ago to $402,300, an analysis found.

While the nation's largest housing markets in New York and Chicago enjoyed greater annual home price appreciation, home values fell 1.5% in Tampa.

Clear regional differences appeared in the average tax amounts owed across the U.S., with residents of one state seeing five-figure sums, Attom said.

US homebuilder confidence barely rose this month on a pickup in current sales, though demand expectations stumbled to a more than one-year low and prices of construction materials are climbing on the heels of higher tariffs. 

One of the biggest culprits is the CFPB's qualified mortgage rule and the ever-expanding debt-to-income ratios allowed under it, writes a co-director of the AEI Housing Center.