Existing home sales across the country inched up by 0.5 percent in November, while the median price for all housing types continued to rise by 1.2 percent, to $409,200—the 29th consecutive month of year-over-year price increases, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR).
“Existing-home sales increased for the third straight month due to lower mortgage rates this autumn,” NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun said in the report. “However, inventory growth is beginning to stall. With distressed property sales at historical lows and housing wealth at an all-time high, homeowners are in no rush to list their properties during the winter months.”
Yun also noted that future affordability could be a challenge if the housing supply fails to keep pace with demand. He added that properties such as condos often present more affordable options for first-time buyers, as they are typically priced at about 13.5 percent lower than a single family home. However, the purchase price does not include the monthly condo association fees, which Yun said are rising and making even these purchases more expensive.
The NAR reported the November median sales price of a single-family home at $414,300, and $358,600 for condominiums and cooperatives.
Meanwhile, an analysis by Realtor.com shows that the country’s rural counties experienced escalating home prices of up to 70 percent from 2019 to 2025, compared with in-metropolitan counties, which saw home prices rise just more than 30 percent.
Lauderdale County in southwestern Tennessee experienced the second-largest gain of nearly 160 percent from $83,000 in 2019 to $215,000 in November 2025.
Taking third place was Rush County, Indiana, with a 158 percent hike in median sales price, followed by Fountain County, Indiana, at 151 percent, and Mitchell County, Iowa, at 148 percent.
According to the analysis, many rural areas had seen a population decline before 2019, but between 2021 and 2023, people began to rediscover these areas. As a result, nearly 540,000 people relocated to rural communities.
“That drives up prices in rural counties at the expense of those already there who may no longer be able to afford a home. Often these rural counties have a less robust rental market, so options for people living there are getting thin.”
Comparing these regions to some of the nation’s largest and most expensive urban counties, Los Angeles homes, for example, experienced just a 34 percent growth in home prices over the past six years, while Orange County, California, saw a 55 percent increase. Home prices in Maricopa County, Arizona, increased by 44 percent, and by 40.5 percent in Miami-Dade County, Florida.
“The most affordable homes in the country, the rural ones, are becoming more expensive at a rate faster than already-expensive urban ones,” Berner added.
Reviewing November’s existing-home prices on a regional basis, the NAR noted the West had the highest median sales price, at $618,900, followed by the Northeast, at $480,000. The median home price came in at $361,000 in the South, and at $319,400 in the Midwest.
