Home prices up 10% at best, but at worst they are down 12%

Investing in residential real estate is never a consistent story nationwide and that’s certainly the case right now as home prices vary across the US, from those areas with strong gains to those with losses.

New stats from RE/MAX shows that the median sale price nationwide was $442,000 in May, up by a modest 0.6% year-over-year ($2,500) and 1% month-over-month. But this belies a variation of more than 20 points between the best and worst performing markets.

Those selling a home at the median price in Trenton, New Jersey would have achieved a 9.9% increase compared to May 2024, with strong gains also seen in Hartford, Connecticut (8.5%), and Honolulu, Hawaii (8.3%).

But for those selling at the median in Bozeman, Montana would be 12% worse off than if they had done so a year earlier, with smaller annual declines in Tampa, Florida at -3.7% and Seattle, Washington at -3.2%.

The report shows that 99% of sellers achieved their asking price in May amid a rise in sales nationwide of 8.6% compared to April but down 3.5% compared to May 2024. New listings were up 4.4% from April and 7.9% from May 2024, marking the 15th straight month of a year-over-year increase.

"Rising sales, growing inventory, declines in days on market and steady prices are all encouraging signs for the housing industry," said Erik Carlson, CEO of RE/MAX Holdings, Inc. "It's great to see the spring market end on a solid note, and we're optimistic that this momentum could carry into an active summer season."

While the US housing market is showing resilience, there are mixed fortunes for existing homeowners with mortgages, which account for around 62% of all properties.

Recent data from industry analysts Cotality shows that while home equity had increased by $115 billion in the first quarter of 2025 compared to a year earlier (0.7%) – taking total net borrower equity to over $17.3 trillion – there was also a rise in homes in negative equity of 17% or 172,000 homes to a total 1.2 million with homeowners losing an average of $4,200 in equity between Q1 2024 and Q1 2025.

"Strong home price appreciation since the pandemic has ensured that US homeowners with a mortgage saw a significant rise in their home equity, with annual gains averaging over $38,000 between 2020 and the end of 2022,” said Cotality Chief Economist Dr. Selma Hepp.  “At the peak of home price gains, annual equity increases surged to as much as $55,000. However, with price increases slowing considerably and appreciation remaining sluggish, home equity is unlikely to accumulate at the same pace as it did during the pandemic, or even pre-pandemic, when annual gains averaged about $11,000.”

Hepp also noted that there has been an increase in owners tapping their home equity to finance other activities.