Home prices grew in the second quarter of 2025 at half the rate they did in the first three months of the year, as fewer metro areas reported significant price increases and more markets posted price declines.
But prices still rose to record highs on a national level, with the median single-family existing home price rising 1.7 percent to $429,000, according to new numbers from the National Association of Realtors.
Seventy-five percent of U.S. metro markets posted price gains in the second quarter compared to a year ago, according to NAR’s Metropolitan Median Area Prices and Affordability and Housing Affordability Index, out Tuesday. That’s down from 83 percent of markets in the first quarter.
Five percent of markets recorded double-digit price gains in the quarter, which was down from 11 percent in the first quarter.
“Home prices have been rising faster in the Midwest, due to affordability, and the Northeast, due to limited inventory,” said NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun. “The South region — especially Florida and Texas — is experiencing a price correction due to the increase in new home construction in recent years.”
The new NAR report comes on the heels of other recent numbers that show prices softening in the West, Texas and Florida, and prices rising in the Midwest and Northeast. For example according to data from ICE Mortgage Technology, released Monday, home prices have come down from a year ago in more than 70 percent of western markets, as well as in to 40 percent of southern markets.
NAR’s data further shows that home prices fell in 24 percent of markets, with five Florida markets posting the biggest price declines. Price declines were led by Sarasota, Punta Gorda and Naples.
The markets with the highest price gains were in the Midwest and Southeast, according to NAR, as buyers chasing affordable homes drove up prices the most.
“If interest rates decline, the strongest release of pent-up housing demand is likely to occur in states with significant job growth in recent years, such as Idaho, Utah, the Carolinas, Florida, and Texas,” Yun said.
