Home Prices Are Rising in 90% of Metro Areas, but Prices Dropped in Some of the Most Expensive Housing Markets in the U.S.

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Single-family home prices are rising in most metros, and the most expensive real-estate markets in America have not been spared. However, some key markets have seen their prices fall.

Single-family existing-home sales prices rose by 4% compared to a year ago in almost 90% of all the metro areas the group measured in the fourth quarter, according to a new report by the National Association of Realtors.

Home-price growth has decelerated, reflecting the rise in mortgage rates and subsequent slowdown in sales. Last quarter, year-over-year price appreciation was 8.6%. The median single-family home price is $378,700.

Where home prices fell

Out of the 186 metros that the NAR looks at, single-family home prices fell in 11% of them in the fourth quarter of 2022.

These are the top 5 most expensive housing markets, per the NAR. The median home price actually dropped in three of them:

San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif., where the median home price was $1.58 million, down 5.8% from a year ago. San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, Calif., where the median home price was $1.23 million, down 6.1% from a year ago. Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine, Calif., where the median home price was $1.13 million, down 1.6% from a year ago. Urban Honolulu, Hawaii, where the median home price was $1.1 million, up 3.4% from a year ago. San Diego-Carlsbad, Calif., where the median home price was $857,000, up 1.4% from a year ago.

The other two metros in the top 10 most expensive real-estate markets include Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, Calif., Boulder, Colo., where home prices fell by 1.3% and 2% respectively.

“A few markets may see double-digit price drops, especially some of the more expensive parts of the country which have also seen weaker employment and higher instances of residents moving to other areas,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist of the NAR.

Housing affordability has been hampered severely by high mortgage rates, the NAR said.

“The monthly mortgage payment on a typical existing single-family home with a 20% down payment was $1,969,” the NAR explained which is a 7% increase from the previous quarter.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was averaging at 6.12% as of Feb. 9, according to Freddie Mac on Thursday. That’s up from 3.69% from the same week a year ago.

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