Home prices are up nationally, but buyers are finding that values are starting to fall in a handful of areas. One in five metro areas are seeing decreases in home prices compared with half as many a year ago, according to realtor.com®.
“In a lot of markets, buyers are hitting an affordability ceiling,” says Danielle Hale, realtor.com®’s chief economist. “Prices just can’t keep rising if buyers can’t keep up. They are dropping out, and that’s why we’re seeing prices adjust [down] in some markets.”
Some locales are seeing prices drop due to overbuilding or natural disasters that devastated communities.
Orell Anderson, president of Strategic Property Analytics, in Laguna Beach, Calif., says disasters can boost home prices and rents in unaffected areas as people try to grab limited housing. But it can hurt values in areas deeply affected.
Realtor.com®’s research team analyzed the change in median list prices from April 2018 to April 2019 in the 250 largest metro areas. They limited rankings to no more than three metros per state for geographic diversity.
Researchers found the following areas with the biggest declines in home prices:
1. San Jose, Calif.
- Median list price: $1.1 million
- Median list price change: -8.4%
2. Oxnard, Calif.
- Median list price: $681,100
- Median list price change: -5.4%
3. College Station, Texas
- Median list price: $265,000
- Median list price change: -5.4%
4. Bridgeport, Conn.
- Median list price: $750,000
- Median list price change: -4.9%
5. San Francisco, Calif.
- Median list price: $948,300
- Median list price change: -4.1%
6. Hilo, Hawaii
- Median list price: $481,600
- Median list price change: -3.5%
7. Cape Coral, Fla.
- Median list price: $300,000
- Median list price change: -3.3%
See the full list at realtor.com®.
Source: “Falling Stars: You Won’t Believe the 10 Cities Where Home Prices Are Down the Most,” realtor.com® (May 20, 2019)
