Housing Statistics 2026

House prices rose 2.4 percent from August 2025 to August 2026.

House prices rose in 46 states and the District of Columbia between the second quarter of 2025 and the second quarter of 2026.

IRVINE, Calif., October 27, 2026 - U.S. home prices rose 2.1% year over year in August, up from 1.9% in July.

Annual growth accelerated in most major metros: Twelve out of 20 metros recorded stronger year-over-year gains, led by Chicago (6.7%), New York (6.2%), and Cleveland (4.3%). Seattle saw the largest decline at -2.0%.

The median existing-home price for all housing types was $417,500. Prices increased 1.3% from one year ago ($412,300), marking the 39th consecutive month of year-over-year price gains.

The median home-sale price was $389,601, down 0.1% year over year.

Thereafter, house price growth eased slightly, to +4.6% in the euro area and +5.1% in the EU in Q1 2026 and +4.0% and +4.7% respectively in Q2 2026.

Average UK house prices increased by 0.9%, to £273,000, in the 12 months to August 2026 (provisional estimate); this annual growth rate is down from 1.2% in the 12 months to July 2026.

The lowest annual inflation of English regions was in London (negative 2.2% in the 12 months to August 2026), driven by large falls in the average price of flats, which account for approximately half of sales in London.

The mean price of residential dwellings fell by $8,200 to $1,100,400 this quarter.

Existing-home sales decreased 2.2% year-over-year to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.99 million.

Unsold inventory represented a 4.8-month supply, unchanged from August and up from 4.5 months one year ago.

Housing Affordability in September The Housing Affordability Index registered 105.4, down from 106.7 one year ago.

Home Affordability Report showing that homes were less affordable than historical averages in 98 percent of counties with sufficient data to analyze for the third quarter of 2026.

In 80.1 percent (467) of the 583 counties included in the analysis, major monthly home expenses exceeded the typical county resident’s wages.

The median mortgage payment was $2,786, up 10.7% year over year to the highest level in our record except the prior week.

Balances Mortgage balances shown on consumer credit reports declined, with a $74 billion decline during the second quarter of 2026 and totaled $13.1 trillion at the end of June.

M ortgage originations, measured as appearances of new mortgages on consumer credit reports and including both refinance and purchase originations, were largely steady with $505 billion newly originated in 2026Q2.

About 55,000 individuals had new foreclosures on their credit reports, a slight improvement from the previous quarter .

Net mortgage approvals for house purchases decreased to 53,400 in September, below an average of around 58,800 over the previous 6-months.

Net borrowing of mortgage debt by individuals decreased to £3.9 billion in September, from £4.2 billion in August, below the previous 6-month average of £4.9 billion.

The homeownership rate of 65.5 percent was not statistically different from the rate in the third quarter 2025 (65.3 percent) and not statistically different from the rate in the second quarter 2026 (65.0 percent).

National vacancy rates in the third quarter 2026 were 7.6 percent for rental housing and 1.2 percent for homeowner housing.

In 2024, 68.4% of people in the EU lived in owner-occupied dwellings, while 31.6% resided in rented accommodation (see Figure 1 ).

In the EU, 44.2% owned their dwellings outright, free from a mortgage or housing loan, whereas 24.3% were owners with a mortgage or loan.

Concerning tenants, 21.1% of people in the EU paid market rent, and 10.5% lived in dwellings with rent at a reduced price or for free.

Rent for 0-2 bedroom properties across the 50 largest metropolitan areas dropped by 0.4% compared to the previous year, with the median asking rent at $1,694—$6 lower than the prior year.

In September 2026, U.S. median rent recorded its 38th consecutive year-over-year decline.

While the median asking rent remains $214 (14.5%) above pre-pandemic levels recorded in August 2019, it has fallen $80 (-4.5%) from its August 2022 peak.

Meanwhile, the average share of 0-2 bedroom rental listings offering concessions across the 50 largest metros on Realtor.com was 43.9%, up 1.3 percentage points from 42.6% a year earlier.

U.S. single-family rent prices increased 2.0% year over year in August 2026.

Main points Average UK monthly private rent increased by 3.8%, to £1,406, in the 12 months to September 2026 (provisional estimate); this annual growth rate is unchanged from the 12 months to August 2026.

In Q2 2026, house prices in the EU rose by 4.7%, while rents increased by 3.0% compared with Q2 2025.

Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in September were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,400,000. This is 0.2 percent below the revised August rate of 1,403,000 and is 3.0 percent below the September 2025 rate of 1,444,000.

Privately-owned housing starts in September were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,221,000. This is 5.2 percent (±11.8 percent)* below the revised August estimate of 1,288,000 and is 7.4 percent (±11.5 percent)* below the September 2025 rate of 1,319,000.

Single-family housing starts in September were at a rate of 859,000; this is 4.6 percent (±10.0 percent)* below the revised August figure of 900,000.

This is 2.2 percent (±10.8 percent)* above the revised August estimate of 1,166,000, but is 14.0 percent (±11.1 percent) below the September 2025 rate of 1,386,000.

Inventory in September Total housing inventory reached 1.60 million units, up 1.9% from August and 4.6% from September 2025.

The number of residential dwellings rose by 54,400 to 11,531,100 this quarter.

Builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes fell three points to 29 in October, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI).

The latest HMI survey found that 43% of builders cut prices in October, the highest share during the 2020-2026 period.

In 2025, there were 745,652 homeless persons (e.g. people living on the street, in emergency shelters, or in transitional housing programs) on a single night in January.

Over the last year, however, homelessness declined by roughly 25,000 people (or 3%).

Between 2024 and 2025, the number of homeless people in families with children decreased by over 29,000 or 11 percent.

Between 2009, when veteran data was first reported, and 2025, the number dropped by 56 percent.

One in every three homeless individuals, or nearly 156,000 people, reported having chronic pa tterns of homelessness.

In 2024, 16.9% of people in the EU lived in overcrowded households.

In 2024, 8.2% of the EU population spent 40% or more of their household disposable income on housing, with the highest rates recorded in Greece (28.9%) and Denmark (14.6%), and the lowest in Cyprus (2.4%) and Croatia (3.7%).

In 2024, 9.2% of people in the EU could not afford to keep their homes adequately warm, a decrease from 10.6% in 2023.