High home prices have been a consistent barrier in the housing market as of late, but with 2026 shaping up to see improvements market-wide, prices have begun to slow on their appreciation. In accordance with recent reports, the latest home price data from the National Association of Realtors® (NAR) saw a slight fall in price growth in Q4 2025.
NAR’s latest quarterly report found that home prices rose in 73% of metro markets (168 out of 230) during Q4 2025. While still a higher rate of appreciation, this is a slower rate than the 77% seen in Q3. In addition, 5% of metro areas (12 out of 230) saw double-digit price gains, up slightly from 4% last quarter.
On a national level, the median single-family existing-home price rose 1.2% year-over-year to $414,900, down from 1.7% annual growth in Q3.
“Home sales squeaked out a gain in the final quarter of 2025, helped by improving affordability conditions,” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. “Mortgage rates fell, income growth outpaced home price growth, and the income required to buy a typical home declined.”
Regionally, the Northeast saw a 5.5% increase to $514,600, the Midwest saw a 4.3% increase to $317,100, the South saw a slight 0.2% increase to $367,300 and the West was the only region to see a decrease of 1.2% to $625,800.
California unsurprisingly claimed seven of the 10 spots on the list of the most expensive markets in Q4. The markets were:
- San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California ($1,920,000; no change)
- Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine, California ($1,396,500; +2.7%)
- San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, California ($1,305,000; -0.8%)
- Urban Honolulu, Hawaii ($1,142,100; +3.5%)
- San Diego-Carlsbad, California ($994,000; +0.9%)
- Salinas, California ($955,500; +1.2%)
- Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, California ($939,700; no change)
- Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, California ($936,700; +1.8%)
- San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, California ($917,100; -1.1%)
- Nassau County-Suffolk County, New York ($818,800; +9.6%)
In addition, the 10 large markets with the biggest year-over-year median price increases were:
- Mobile, Alabama (+13.7%)
- Canton-Massillon, Ohio (+9.8%)
- Nassau County-Suffolk County, New York (+9.6%)
- Montgomery, Alabama (+9.4%)
- St. Louis, Missouri-Illinois (+9.1%)
- Shreveport-Bossier City, Louisiana (+8.4%)
- Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, Ohio-Pennsylvania (+8.3%)
- Providence-Warwick, Rhode Island-Massachusetts (+8.2%)
- Fort Wayne, Indiana (+8%)
- Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, Connecticut (+8%)
On the other hand, following the overall trend of deceleration, 25% of the markets analyzed saw home price declines in Q4, up from 23% last quarter.
“While most metro markets continue to see record-high housing wealth, some areas are experiencing home price declines,” Yun added. “These declining markets are concentrated primarily in Florida and Texas, where robust supply and recent home construction are increasing competition among sellers to attract buyers.”
In terms of affordability, the monthly mortgage payment on a typical existing single-family home with a 20% down payment clocked in at $2,057, which is down 5.7% from Q3 and down 3.1% year-over-year. The average share of income typical families spent on mortgage payments was 22.9%, down from 24.5% last quarter and 24.7% last year.
For first-time buyers, the monthly mortgage payment for a typical starter home valued at $352,700 with a 10% down payment was $2,019, which is a $122 decrease from Q3 and $62 decrease from last year. First-time buyers spent 34.6% of their income on mortgage payments, down from 37% last quarter and 37.3% last year.
