The median price of an existing home in the United States reached $440,660 in June, an all-time high, according to data from the National Association of Realtors. Prices have now risen for 36 consecutive months.
The figures, reported by CBS News, break down across property types and regions. The median price for existing single-family homes nationwide was $446,400. Condominiums and co-ops came in at $380,000. Regional medians for single-family homes ranged from $346,600 in the Midwest to $633,600 in the West. The Northeast median was $564,800 and the South came in at $377,700.
"Housing affordability remains low under slowing wage growth and stronger home price growth," said Ershang Liang, an economist with PNC Economics Research, in a report.
The affordability gap is especially severe for first-time buyers. Fewer than 4 in 10 non-homeowner households can afford a typical starter home priced around $200,000, according to LendingTree. Real estate firm Redfin has found that households need an annual income of roughly $117,000 to afford the average home.
Sales of previously occupied homes have been largely flat since 2022, when mortgage rates began rising from pandemic-era lows. Sales were stuck near a 30-year low last year. Through the first half of 2026, seasonally adjusted sales of existing properties were up only 0.7% from the same period a year earlier.
"Without a doubt, the affordability is a major challenge for people who want to become homeowners, which is the reason why we need more supply," Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist, told the Associated Press.
Congress last month passed the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act in a rare bipartisan vote. The bill would remove regulatory barriers to construction, restrict institutional investors from buying single-family homes, and encourage zoning reforms to speed up homebuilding. But the legislation has not been signed into law. President Trump canceled a planned signing ceremony in late June, saying he would not sign the bill until Congress passes a separate elections measure known as the SAVE America Act. The fate of the housing bill remains unclear.