U.S. Home Prices Continue To Climb

Throughout the crises of recent years, U.S. home prices have continued to climb. While the coronavirus pandemic and the advent of remote work saw demand and costs skyrocket, runaway inflation and Fed hikes caused mortgage rates to rise and slowed price increases somewhat. However, in July of 2024, Redfin estimated the median U.S. home price at $439,170. This is less than June's record of $442,479, but still more than when the market first moderated after the substantial Fed rate hikes (around $432,000 in May 2022).

Between May of 2022 and March of 2020 - when the coronavirus pandemic began - the median U.S. home price increased by 42 percent, up from $304,000, when not adjusting for inflation.

U.S. home sales used follow a cyclical pattern, with most demand and higher prices in summer and less demand an lower prices in winter. However, this dynamic has been somewhat upset since 2020. Since then, home prices have risen much more in-season than they have fallen off-season while the supply of homes for sale became more and more scarce. According to Marketwatch, the pandemic housing market actually collided with other, longer-term developments that were already putting pressure on the U.S. home market and its housing supply. Mortgage rates that were once again rising slightly were causing more Americans to stay put rather than move. Also, homeowners are older now than they used to be, but are more likely to "age in place" instead of downgrading, snowbirding or moving into retirement communities. The average time between moves had already reached a high of 13.5 years in 2020, increasing from just around ten years in 2012, and only started to fall again in 2021 as the pandemic prompted more moving activity.