Annual price appreciation hits its fastest pace since August 2025
“The housing market is quietly inching back toward price growth,” Fleming said.
“Annual appreciation reached its fastest pace since last August, while also becoming broader based, with more than half of the markets we track once again posting annual price gains. The key reason is that inventory growth has slowed, after a year of rising supply helped keep price appreciation in check.”
Read more: US housing recovery stutters, leaving buyers with patchy inventory gains
Higher Treasury yields are pushing mortgage rates higher, but Kristin O’Neil of Open Door Lending says many buyers are choosing to move forward as home prices and tight inventory continue to pressure affordability.https://t.co/Xdsj29b3e5
— Mortgage Professional America Magazine (@MPAMagazineUS) July 24, 2026
Where the gains are sharpest
The June 2026 HPI data reinforces how local the US housing story has become. Chicago posted the strongest year-over-year appreciation among the major markets tracked, at 6.2%, followed by Pittsburgh at 3.0%, Warren, Mich. at 2.8%, New Brunswick, N.J. at 2.4%, and Arlington, Va. at 2.2%.
At the starter-home tier — where broker transaction volumes tend to concentrate — St. Louis recorded a 12.4% year-over-year gain, the largest of any tracked metro.
