Market Trends
Housing prices, inventory levels, demand shifts, regional market differences, and the data behind where the housing market is heading.
Latest in Market Trends
Mortgage rates are stuck near 6.7%, but buyers now have room to negotiate in most big U.S. markets as inventory rises
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.66% in Freddie Mac’s survey released Aug. 27, 2026, barely moved from 6.65% the week before and up only slightly...
A 1031 exchange lets a landlord swap a rental and defer the capital-gains tax
A rental property sold outright can hand its owner a tax bill that swallows a large slice of decades of appreciation, and that figure arrives...
Some towns let seniors trade volunteer hours for a break on their property-tax bill
For an older homeowner squeezed by a rising property-tax bill, one form of relief is unusual because it does not require proving poverty or hitting...
Appealing your property-tax assessment can shave hundreds off the bill, and many owners win
A property-tax bill looks fixed, but the number that drives it is an estimate — and estimates can be wrong. Every bill starts with an...
A homestead exemption can shave hundreds off a property-tax bill and shield some home equity
A homestead exemption is one of the few tax breaks a homeowner claims once and keeps collecting for years, and in most states it removes...
A homestead exemption can shield part of a home’s value from creditors and trim the property-tax bill
Two homeowners with identical houses on the same street can owe very different property-tax bills and face very different exposure to creditors, and the reason...
Almost anyone who bought a home through an agent can claim part of a $120 million commission settlement before October 27
The National Association of Realtors and a group of large brokerages have agreed to pay $120,334,500 to settle claims that they kept home-sale commissions artificially...
Property assessments can climb even when home values fall, and you can appeal a bill set above market value
A falling home value does not guarantee a falling tax bill. Because assessed values are set on a lag and often trail market swings by...
A home’s tax assessment can climb faster than the market, leaving some owners taxed above what the house is worth
A property-tax assessment is supposed to track what a home is worth, but the two figures can drift apart, sometimes sharply. When a county’s assessed...
Nearly half of U.S. homes are taxed above market value, and a formal assessment appeal can cut the bill
Estimates of how many American homes are assessed above their true market value run startlingly high — by several measures approaching half of all properties....
Property assessments can rise, and some homes are taxed above market value
A property-tax assessment is an official estimate, not an untouchable verdict. County guidance across the country tells homeowners to appeal when the enrolled or appraised...
The typical new home sold for $398,300 in June as annual prices slipped 2.7%
The median newly built home sold for $398,300 in June, 2.7% below the level reported a year earlier. That sounds like a clean sign of...
A typical existing home sold for a record $440,600 in June, even as slower sales pointed to a cooling market
American homebuyers paid more for a typical existing home in June than at any prior point on record, even as transaction volumes slowed and affordability...
Home list prices slipped about 2% from a year ago, the sharpest drop in over a year as sales cool
Home sellers across the United States are cutting asking prices at the fastest pace in more than a year, with the median listing price falling...
Home prices are running 2.5% below a year ago as more listings hand buyers the upper hand
Buyers across the United States are gaining ground they have not held in years, as home prices run roughly 2.5% below where they stood a...
Home prices have fallen for eight straight months, giving buyers more room to negotiate
Buyers shopping for a home in mid-2026 are finding something that was almost unheard of two years ago: falling prices and growing room to push...
$429,300 was the typical existing-home price in May, an all-time high for the month
American homebuyers paid a record price for existing homes in May, with the national median reaching $429,300, a 1.3 percent increase from a year earlier....
The typical U.S. home sold for a record $429,300 in May, the 35th straight month prices rose from a year earlier
Homebuyers across the United States hit a new price ceiling in May, with the median existing home selling for $429,300, a record that extends an...
There are now 470,000 more home sellers than buyers, handing buyers the upper hand
Homebuyers across the United States now face a market tilted sharply in their favor, with sellers outnumbering active buyers by roughly 630,000, the largest gap...
About 308,000 homes sold in May, up 5.2% from a year ago even as prices set records
American home buyers closed on about 308,446 properties in May 2026, a 5.2 percent jump from a year earlier and the strongest monthly sales total...