U.S. home prices hit record high as affordability worsens

The median price of an existing U.S. home rose to a record $440,600 in June, pushing the starter-home market further out of reach even as sales softened. Existing-home sales fell 2.4% from May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.09 million, showing that higher prices were meeting weaker demand rather than broad-based relief.

The June price was up 1.8% from $432,700 a year earlier, marking the 36th straight month of year-over-year gains. At the same time, unsold inventory slipped 0.6% to 1.56 million homes, equal to 4.6 months of supply, a level that remains too lean to give buyers much leverage. The combination leaves many households facing a market where the typical home costs more, but the number of listings available to choose from is still tight.

That squeeze is colliding with costs beyond the mortgage itself. Harvard’s 2026 State of the Nation’s Housing report said nearly half of renter households were cost burdened in 2024, and it said rising property taxes, insurance costs, home prices and mortgage rates are all straining homeowners and would-be buyers. Harvard also said property taxes rose 31% nationwide between 2019 and 2025, adding another layer to monthly housing bills that already look large by historical standards.

Younger adults are feeling the change most sharply. Pew Research Center found that 89% of adults under 40 say buying a home is harder now than it was for their parents’ generation. Zillow put a hard number on how far expectations have moved: the number of U.S. cities where a typical starter home costs $1 million or more hit a record 242 in June, nearly triple the 80 cities it counted in February 2020.

Nationally, prices are still hovering near record territory even as the market slows underneath them. S&P Dow Jones Indices said its U.S. National Home Price Index rose 0.7% year over year in March 2026, but more than half of major U.S. metro markets posted annual price declines in the same month. That split points to a market where national headlines still show strength, while many local buyers are dealing with a far less forgiving reality.