Home prices rose in 80% of metro areas during the second quarter of 2026, up from 71% in the first quarter, according to the National Association of REALTORS® latest quarterly report.
The national median existing single-family home price hit $434,900, up 1.5% from a year ago, a faster pace than the 0.5% growth recorded in the first quarter.
Yet as home prices went up, along with mortgage rates, home sales rose across most of the country.
This is the kind of data that changes how a listing conversation opens or how a buyer’s expectations get set. Below is the regional and metro-level breakdown, plus the affordability numbers you can use with clients this week.
Price Growth Is Spreading Beyond the Usual Hot Spots
Far more of the country is appreciating than it was three months ago. And the number of markets losing value moved in the other direction:
- 20% of metro areas saw price declines in Q2, down from 27% last quarter and 24% a year ago
- 5% of metros posted double-digit price gains, unchanged from the first quarter
- The national median existing single-family home price hit $434,900, up 1.5% year over year, up from 0.5% growth in Q1
Dr. Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, pointed to job and income growth as the reason sales pushed higher this quarter even as home prices rose at a faster pace. Mortgage rates also increased over the same period.
“Home sales increased despite mortgage rates rising. This testifies to the potential housing demand building up from steady job and income gains.”
South Leads, Northeast Lags
Regional home price data shows where growth is concentrated and where it isn’t.
Median price by region in Q2 2026:
- Northeast: $547,200 median, up 3.8% year over year
- Midwest: $340,800 median, up 3.6%
- South: $380,000 median, up 1.0%, with the fastest sales growth of the four regions
- West: $637,900 median, down 0.8%
NAR’s data on sales growth shows the South taking the lead in Q2 driven by faster job growth in the region. Sales in the Northeast did not increase, held back by slower job growth and home prices outpacing income growth, which cut into affordability.
Dr. Yun connected both halves of the regional story to the same underlying dynamics.
“Sales rose in three of the four major regions, with the South leading the way due to faster job growth. The Northeast was the exception, held back partly by slower job growth and faster-appreciating home prices, which hurt affordability.”
The Metros with the Biggest Price Gains
The ten metros with the largest year-over-year price increases are mid-size, inland markets scattered across Texas, Florida, the Gulf Coast, and smaller cities in the Northeast and Midwest.
- Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX: up 11.0%
- Naples-Immokalee-Marco Island, FL: up 10.5%
- Gulfport-Biloxi-Pascagoula, MS: up 10.3%
- Syracuse, NY: up 9.6%
- Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT: up 8.0%
- Lansing-East Lansing, MI: up 7.8%
- Canton-Massillon, OH: up 7.7%
- Providence–Warwick, RI-MA: up 7.4%
- York-Hanover, PA: up 7.4%
- Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI: up 6.8%
Meanwhile, here’s how price movement looks in the country’s most expensive markets in Q2:
- San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA: $2,050,000 median, down 4.2%
- Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, California: $879,900 median, flat year over year
- Salinas, CA and Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA: both up 0.4%
If you’re working in a mid-size market, this is real ammunition for a pricing conversation. A seller who assumes big coastal metros are the only markets appreciating is working from an old picture of the market.
The Affordability Math Reshaping Buyer Conversations
Affordability moved on two fronts this quarter: higher payments and a higher share of income going toward them.
- Monthly payment on a typical existing home with 20% down: $2,199, up $219 from last quarter, down $52 from a year ago (Q2 2025)
- Share of income the typical family spends on that payment: 23.8%, up from 21.8% last quarter, down from 25.5% a year ago
First-time buyers are feeling more of this pressure than the market as a whole.
- Monthly payment on a typical starter home valued at $369,700, with 10% down: $2,158, up $214 from last quarter, down $49 from Q2 2025.
- Share of income first-time buyers spend on that payment: 35.9%, up from 32.9% last quarter, down from 38.4% a year ago
Dr. Yun pointed to the relationship between the two trends.
“It is welcoming to see incomes rising faster than home prices, which has helped boost affordability. But the big short-term challenge to affordability is coming from rising mortgage rates.”
For you, that means leading with the payment number when a buyer (seeking a mortgage) is deciding whether this is the right time to buy.
Every number in this report has a job to do in a real conversation. Pull your own market’s median price and its quarter-over-quarter change before your next listing or buyer appointment, and show clients where their area falls against the national and regional numbers in this report.
Use the affordability numbers the same way. A buyer deciding whether to wait another quarter needs to see the real payment and income-share numbers for their own budget.
