Where home prices are adjusting the most
If you’re searching for the latest news about home prices, your search engine may ask you if you want to allow location tracking to offer you more local information. And that is an important distinction when it comes to home prices. While they have followed a pretty standard trajectory over the last few years on a national level, the local story becomes more nuanced.
If you look at the trend of national home sale prices over the last year, you’ll see that year-over-year, home prices have gone up every month. That’s a trend that goes back many years. That’s why homeownership is still such a good investment. But at the local level, some metro areas see their home prices go up more than the national average, and others see prices go down.
Home prices usually drop due to a decrease in homebuyer demand. As we’ve seen over the last few years, though, demand has stayed high, even as mortgage rates have been increasing. Local factors, like the number of homes for sale, the job market and even the prevalence of remote work, can affect homebuyer demand differently in different areas.
Some areas see home prices go up, which is good news for homeowners as it increases the amount of equity they could tap into with a loan like a home equity line of credit (HELOC). In the areas that are seeing home prices drop, more homebuyers may start looking to buy, which could make these markets more competitive.
No matter the situation in your neck of the woods, the best thing you can do to prepare for buying a home is getting a PowerBid Approval. This program helps you compete with cash buyers by providing full underwriting credit approval, which can be more effective than the traditional pre-approval letter and helps speed up your buying process.
Where home prices are dropping in 2024
We looked at data from the Realtor.com® Economic Research team, analyzing the top 250 housing markets across the country. We picked out the ones that showed the greatest decrease in home prices, as measured by listing price, from August of 2023 to August of 2024.
We’ve also included the difference in prices from July of 2024, to show a more recent price trend in these areas. It’s important to note that the national trend over many years is for home prices to peak in June and July and start to cool off in August.
Amarillo, TX
- Median listing price: $299,000
- Month-over-month change: -0.13%
- Year-over-year change: -18.94%
Texas has seen a large increase in homes listed for sale: in June, there were 156,743 homes for sale in Texas, up 22.4% year-over-year. The demand for homes hasn’t kept pace with this growth in inventory, which is why places like Amarillo are seeing home prices drop so significantly.
Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT
- Median listing price: $800,000
- Month-over-month change: -6.92%
- Year-over-year change: -15.79%
Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin, FL
- Median listing price: $619,000
- Month-over-month change: -2.52%
- Year-over-year change: -14.00%
Like Texas, Florida has also seen more homes listed for sale over the past year, outpacing demand. Florida has a double whammy of rising insurance costs that also is putting a damper on demand and forcing sellers to lower their asking prices. Insurance costs are rising due to the increasing intensity of severe weather events in the Sunshine State, which is another factor that is scaring away buyers.
You’ll notice that of the top 10 metro areas seeing home prices decline, 3 are in Florida.
Evansville, IN-KY
- Median listing price: $239,900
- Month-over-month change: -3.65%
- Year-over-year change: -13.84%
Lubbock, TX
- Median listing price: $255,000
- Month-over-month change: -1.73%
- Year-over-year change: -13.56%
Macon-Bibb County, GA
- Median listing price: $220,000
- Month-over-month change: +0.07%
- Year-over-year change: -12.72%
Urban Honolulu, HI
- Median listing price: $725,000
- Month-over-month change: -0.89%
- Year-over-year change: -11.85%
Honolulu has long been one of the more expensive housing markets in the country, with the allure of Hawaii’s picture-perfect beaches and friendly climate attracting buyers. But the rise in mortgage rates over the last few years seems to have had a dampening effect on homebuying demand, which has led home sellers to lower their asking prices.
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL
- Median listing price: $530,000
- Month-over-month change: -0.93%
- Year-over-year change: -11.67%
Johnson City, TN
- Median listing price: $369,900
- Month-over-month change: +2.56%
- Year-over-year change: -11.39%
Naples-Marco Island, FL
- Median listing price: $749,999
- Month-over-month change: -2.34%
- Year-over-year change: -11.24%
Where home prices are rising in 2024
Using the same methodology, we also identified the cities that are seeing the most home price growth this year. Many of the areas that are seeing home prices increase are in the Northeast and Upper Midwest.
Hilo, HI
- Median listing price: $650,000
- Month-over-month change: +2.60%
- Year-over-year change: +11.44%
Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI
- Median listing price: $399,000
- Month-over-month change: -0.23%
- Year-over-year change: +13.19%
Norwich-New London, CT
- Median listing price: $489,900
- Month-over-month change: -4.36%
- Year-over-year change: +13.29%
Binghamton, NY
- Median listing price: $225,000
- Month-over-month change: +2.27%
- Year-over-year change: +13.35%
Upstate New York is well represented on this list of where home prices are increasing, with four entries. This part of the state is known for being an affordable place to live with inexpensive homes. That low cost of living is bringing in home buyers, which ironically is pushing home prices up. The good news is that compared to other parts of the state, these cities are still affordable despite the price increases.
Rochester, NY
- Median listing price: $284,900
- Month-over-month change: +2.69%
- Year-over-year change: +14.01%
Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH
- Median listing price: $206,733
- Month-over-month change: +3.42%
- Year-over-year change: +15.04%
Kalamazoo-Portage, MI
- Median listing price: $369,900
- Month-over-month change: -1.34%
- Year-over-year change: +15.99%
Utica-Rome, NY
- Median listing price: $269,900
- Month-over-month change: +1.09%
- Year-over-year change: +17.80%
Syracuse, NY
- Median listing price: $325,000
- Month-over-month change: -5.77%
- Year-over-year change: +23.86%
Saginaw, MI
- Median listing price: $214,950
- Month-over-month change: +0.70%
- Year-over-year change: +46.22%
Making the most of your local market
As you can see, the housing market can be very different depending on where you live. This information underscores the need to work with a local expert, who can help you navigate the particular challenges and opportunities in your area.
If you find yourself in an area where home prices are dropping, you may need to be prepared to deal with competition from eager buyers. That’s why you should give yourself every possible advantage and apply using PowerBid Pre-Approval. It will show sellers and agents that you’re serious. The pre-approval process takes only about 15 minutes on average, and you can upgrade to a commitment letter in about four hours when working with one of our loan officers.
If you find yourself in an area where home prices are rising, you may want to learn about the many ways we can help you fit your mortgage payments into your budget.
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