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- Connor Quincy via Fast Company
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- Economy·4 min to read
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Home prices fall in 64 major U.S. housing markets as national growth slows
ReHome prices fall in 64 major U.S. housing markets as national growth slows
New data shows 64 of the nation's 300 largest housing markets saw year-over-year home price declines between July 2025 and July 2026, with Sun Belt and Mountain West metros hit hardest while Northeast and Midwest markets continue to climb.
Home prices are falling in 64 of the nation's 300 largest housing markets, according to a new analysis of the Zillow Home Value Index. That means roughly 21% of major U.S. metros saw year-over-year price declines between July 2025 and July 2026, even as the national aggregate inched up just 1.1% over the same period.
The latest figures mark a stabilization from the previous year, when 105 markets — about 35% of the largest metros — were in decline. The current count is also down from the 99 markets that saw falling prices in the July 2022 to July 2023 window, when the housing market first began cooling after the pandemic boom. Nationally, home price growth has hovered near zero for much of the past year, dipping to -0.01% year-over-year in August 2025 before recovering slightly.
The softness is concentrated in the Sun Belt and Mountain West, regions that saw some of the steepest price surges during the pandemic. Markets like Tampa and Austin, which attracted waves of domestic migration when mortgage rates were near historic lows, have since struggled as that migration slowed and borrowing costs rose. In Austin, home prices now sit 27.2% below their 2022 peak. By contrast, Hartford, Connecticut, has seen prices climb 28.7% above its 2022 high.
Analysts point to a combination of factors weighing on formerly hot markets. An abundance of new home construction in the Sun Belt has given builders room to offer price cuts and affordability incentives, which in turn pressures the resale market. Some buyers who might have purchased existing homes are instead choosing new construction with better deals, adding to resale inventory and cooling prices further.
Meanwhile, many Northeast and Midwest metros continue to see price gains, largely because active inventory remains well below pre-pandemic 2019 levels. That regional split has created an unusually wide gap between the strongest and weakest markets, even as the overall national appreciation rate has flattened into a soft but stable range.
ResiClub, the housing data firm behind the analysis, noted that the number of declining markets has begun to stabilize over the past 12 months and that inventory growth has decelerated. The firm had expected the count of falling markets to gradually decrease in the first half of 2026, a forecast that has so far held. Still, the broader picture remains one of a sluggish national market rather than a sharp downturn.
While 64 major metros are seeing year-over-year declines, the remaining 236 of the 300 largest markets are still recording price increases. Much of the bifurcation reflects mean reversion, with the steepest drops occurring in places that overheated most during the pandemic housing boom. In many of those areas, home price growth had far outpaced local income levels, leaving the market dependent on continued migration and cheap financing to sustain valuations.
When weighted by population, the national housing market appears slightly weaker than the unweighted figures suggest, according to the analysis. The data covers the 300 largest U.S. metropolitan areas, with historical comparisons extending back to 2000 for the 200 largest markets.
