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U.S. housing market - statistics & facts

Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, the U.S. housing market has been booming: Many home buyers capitalized on low mortgage rates and renegotiated their mortgage, moved to a new home, or came one step closer to the American Dream by buying their first home. As a result, the number of home sales spiked in the second half of 2020 and has since remained above the pre-pandemic levels. House prices had been on an upward trend before the pandemic, but with demand at a record high, the Freddie Mac House Price Index measured house appreciation at a staggering 11.3 percent in 2020. In fact, the “race for space” between homebuyers resulted in almost 60 percent of homes being sold above their list price in early 2021. Since then, the market has started to cool down, but the low inventory and the growth of construction costs are likely to continue driving house prices up.

Where have homes appreciated the most?

Across many U.S. states, the price of single-family homes grew by over 20 percent. Arizona, Utah, Idaho, Florida, and Tennessee were among the states where homes appreciated the most as of the end of 2021. Furthermore, in states such as California, Washington, and Massachusetts, the typical value of a single-family home was notably higher than the average sales price of both new homes and existing homes. Looking at different metropolitan areas, The Golden State has one of the most competitive housing markets. Buying a home in San Jose, Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, or San Francisco would set back home buyers by over one million U.S. dollars.

Home affordability and financing

While house prices have continuously grown in recent years, incomes have not followed the same trend. This means that for aspiring home owners, buying a home has become increasingly unaffordable. In a survey among people actively looking to buy a home, one in three Millennials shared that they struggled to make a purchase due to high prices. Meanwhile, inflation is on the rise and has forced the Federal Reserve to introduce a gradual increase of the interest rates, making the cost of borrowing money higher. Higher mortgage rates are likely to cool down the overheated market and curb demand, but also make homeownership even more unattainable.
This text provides general information. Statista assumes no liability for the information given being complete or correct. Due to varying update cycles, statistics can display more up-to-date data than referenced in the text.
Published by Statista Research Department, Oct 4, 2022

Key insights

Number of owner-occupied housing units in the U.S.
83.48m
Number of housing units occupied by renter in the U.S.
44m
U.S. homeownership rate
65.9%
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