02/14/2026
Exclusive: Here's where home prices are rising — and falling — across the US
Homes.com data suggests a balancing market ahead of what could be busy spring season
Philadelphia saw the steepest annual incline in median home prices in January, according to exclusive Homes.com data. (Alec Oswald/CoStar)
Philadelphia saw the steepest annual incline in median home prices in January, according to exclusive Homes.com data. (Alec Oswald/CoStar)
By Moira Ritter
February 12, 2026
6:33 PM ET
11,383 Views
Key takeaways
Home prices continued to rise nationally in January despite severe winter weather, with gains concentrated in the Northeast and Midwest.
Former pandemic boom markets in the Sun Belt and along the coasts are seeing price corrections as inventory normalizes.
Improving balance between buyers and sellers, combined with rising wages and lower mortgage rates, is setting the stage for a more active spring housing market.
January brought extreme freezing temperatures to the Northeast and Midwest — but home prices stayed hot.
Exclusive data from Homes.com showed that home prices rose 1.3% in January compared to a year earlier. That growth was mostly concentrated in major Northeast and Midwest markets, such as Philadelphia, Detroit and Cleveland.
It's a continuation of a trend that's taken hold as markets in the South and West that saw a surge in demand, inventory and prices during the COVID-19 pandemic start to normalize.
Now, a broader adjustment is underway as markets across the country rebalance.
Philadelphia, for example, saw an 8.6% increase in home prices compared to a year earlier. Detroit, Michigan; Cleveland, Ohio; Columbus, Ohio; Baltimore, Maryland; and Cincinnati, Ohio, all saw prices climb more than 5%.
Conversely, nearly two dozen markets saw prices stagnate or fall. Most of those were concentrated in the Sun Belt or along the coast.
Raleigh, North Carolina, experienced the biggest drop-off in prices, with a 4.3% decrease in median home prices compared to last January. Other markets that saw prices fall include Seattle, New York, Dallas, San Antonio, Phoenix and Nashville.
Economists anticipate a stronger spring housing market
Another interesting trend showed up in January's data: Neither buyers nor sellers had a clear upper hand, as the balance between supply and demand improved.
That varied regionally, according to Brad Case, chief residential economist for Homes.com, who noted that in some of the most unaffordable markets, such as San Francisco, San Jose and San Diego in California, sellers "still seem to have the greatest bargaining power." Conversely, in markets with more supply, such as Miami, Florida, and San Antonio and Austin in Texas, "buyers have a little bit of a leg up."
Even so, that shift lends itself to the idea that the spring market will be more active this year: Consumer confidence is inching upward. Wages are on the rise. Mortgage rates are hovering near three-year lows.
“The signs from the homes market are encouraging as we move into the spring homebuying season,” Case said in a statement. “Home prices have continued to appreciate, but not at the breakneck speed that scared so many buyers away just a few years ago. Homes are being offered for sale with asking prices that set the stage for better negotiations between buyers and sellers.”
Writer
Moira Ritter
Moira Ritter is an award-winning staff writer for Homes.com, covering the California housing market with a passion for finding ways to connect real estate with readers' everyday lives. She earned recognition from the National Association of Real Estate Editors for her reporting on Hurricane Helene's aftermath in North Carolina.
