Home prices increased quarterly in 176 out of 230 metro markets in the United States during the third quarter, according to the National Association of REALTORS®. That’s 77% — up from 75% during Q2.
Furthermore, 4% of metro areas saw double-digit quarterly price gains, although that was down from 5% in the second quarter.
Nationwide, the median price for a single-family home increased 1.7% year over year to $426,800. Prices increased by the same annual rate during the second quarter.
“Home sales have struggled to gain traction, but prices continue to rise, contributing to record-high housing wealth,” NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said in a press release. “Markets in the supply-constrained Northeast and the more affordable Midwest have generally seen stronger price appreciation.”
By region, annual price gains were highest in the Northeast, where the median grew 6% to $540,100, followed by the Midwest, up 4.2% to $331,100. Meanwhile, median prices rose 0.5% to $372,800 in the South and declined 0.1% to $633,900 in the West.
“Price declines are occurring mainly in southern states, where there has been robust new-home construction in recent years,” Yun added. “Given the region’s faster job growth, these price drops should be viewed as temporary and as a secondchance opportunity for those previously priced out of the market.”
By metro, the market with the greatest year-over-year median-price increase was Trenton, New Jersey, where the median rose 9.9%; followed by Lansing-East Lansing, Michigan (up 9.8%); Nassau County-Suffolk County, New York (up 9.4%); New Haven-Millford, Connecticut (up 9%); New York-Jersey City-White Plains (up 8.1%); Manchester-Nashua, New Hampshire (up 8%); St. Louis (up 7.9%); Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, Connecticut (up 7.8%); Toledo, Ohio (up 7.7%); and Cleveland-Elyria (up 7.7%).
Given the median home price, the typical monthly mortgage payment was $2,187 for single-family homes with a 20% down payment. That was down 2.8% from the second quarter but up 2.1% year over year. That meant that the average household spent 24.8% of their monthly income on mortgage payments — an affordability improvement both quarter over quarter and year over year.
Affordability also improved among first-time buyers, who saw a monthly mortgage payment of $2,146 during Q3 for a “starter home” with a 10% down payment. That was $61 cheaper than the quarter prior, but $45 more than Q3 2024.
Given that monthly payment, first-time buyers spent 37.4% of their monthly income on mortgage payments, down from 38.6% in Q2 and 38.1% a year prior.