Home Prices Drop in 14 Major US Metros

There are now more sellers than buyers, with homes taking longer to sell than they did a year ago.

A property for sale in Washington on May 19, 2025. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

The median sales price of homes fell in 14 out of the 50 most populous metros in the United States for the four weeks ending on July 27, real estate brokerage Redfin said in a July 31 statement.

Oakland, California, saw the largest drop, with the median sales price registering a year-over-year decline of 6.8 percent. It was followed by West Palm Beach and Jacksonville in Florida, and Austin and Houston in Texas.

“Prices are falling in several metro areas because the housing market is slow due to high housing costs and economic uncertainty,” Redfin stated.

The weekly rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 6.72 percent for the week ending on July 31, according to data from Freddie Mac. Rates have remained above the 6.5 percent level for every single week this year, and have not dipped below 6 percent since mid-September 2022.

Meanwhile, the median sales price of homes sold in the United States was $410,800 for the second quarter, up from $317,100 five years ago, according to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Prices have remained above the $400,000 level for every quarter since the third quarter of 2021.

The persistently elevated mortgage rates and home prices have discouraged prospective buyers, dampening demand and contributing to price declines in some metros.

Homes are now taking longer to sell than they did a year ago in every major metro, according to Redfin, and there are now more sellers than buyers nationwide, giving buyers a favorable position in negotiations.

For instance, in West Palm Beach, a typical home took 93 days to go under contract for the four weeks ending on July 27, an increase of 18 days from a year earlier, according to Redfin. Meanwhile, supply has increased by 7.7 percent in West Palm Beach.

Nationwide, the median asking price has dipped to the lowest level in five months and posted the smallest increase since February, signaling that more sellers are pricing their homes lower to attract buyers, according to the brokerage.

“Sellers need to start coming to terms with two things: One, homes are more often going to sit on the market for longer than a week or two before they sell, and two, buyers are gaining the upper hand,” James Gulden, a Redfin Premier agent in Boston, said.

“I advise my sellers to be realistic about the price they’re going to get based on the market research I provide.”

Builder Confidence, Mortgage Rates

Amid a slow housing market, confidence among builders with regard to future sales expectations improved last month, according to a July 17 statement from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).

The NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index, which tracks and gauges the pulse of the single-family housing market, jumped by one point in June.

“The passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act provided a number of important wins for households, home builders, and small businesses,” NAHB Chairman Buddy Hughes said.

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed by President Donald Trump on July 4, includes several provisions related to housing that benefit real estate developers and homeowners.

For example, one provision raises the state and local tax deduction cap from $10,000 to $40,000 for tax years 2025–2029. This allows homeowners to deduct up to $40,000 of state and local tax payments, such as property taxes, when paying federal taxes.

To trigger higher demand in the housing market, mortgage rates would have to come down significantly from their current level. However, this requires lowering the Federal Reserve’s benchmark interest rates.

At their most recent meeting, Fed officials kept the central bank interest rate unchanged for the fifth straight time in a range of 4.25 percent to 4.5 percent. For the first time since 1993, two Fed officials dissented and suggested cutting rates.

In a July 31 commentary, Lisa Sturtevant, chief economist at real estate data company Bright MLS, said that if rate cuts take place in September, it is possible for mortgage rates to go down toward the end of summer, similar to 2024.

However, “it is a very different housing market and economy than it was a year ago, and there are still factors at play that could keep mortgage rates higher,” she wrote.