Median House Price in the United States Almost Doubled in the Past Decade and hit $412,300 in Q2 2024

August 15, 3:33 am

The median sales price of houses in the United States has skyrocketed over the years. It broke the $400,000 barrier in late 2021 for the first time and has remained above this figure for the past three years. While many Americans welcome the latest price drop seen in 2024, house prices are still drastically higher than ten years ago.

According to data presented by AltIndex.com, the median house price in the United States hit $412,300 in Q2 2024, twice as much as a decade ago.

The Median House Price Jumped by an Average of $15,400 Per Year

The perfect storm of historically low mortgage rates and rising construction costs after COVID-19, combined with the pandemic-driven demand shifts among Americans, with many seeking larger homes in suburban and rural areas, has created a highly competitive housing market.

During 2022 and 2023 the situation worsened as institutional investors started buying single-family homes and turning them into rental properties, a trend that significantly impacted the entire market. At the same time, mortgage rates started rising again due to volatile market and inflation concerns, making homeowners unwilling to sell their properties. The supply and demand imbalance, coupled with these factors, has caused house prices in the United States to skyrocket, and the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis data show just how big that increase was.

Back in 2014, the median house price in the United States amounted to $275,000. That means the average house price jumped by roughly $20,000 seven years after the subprime mortgage crisis. However, this seven-year price growth was only $4,600 higher than the average annual increase from 2014 onwards.

According to Federal Reserve Economic data, the median sales prices of houses in the United States jumped by an average of $15,400 per year during the last decade, turning that $275,000 into $412,300 as of Q2 2024. Although this represents a 6% drop from an all-time high of $442,600 in Q4 2022, the average house price is still practically twice as high as in 2014.

Statistics also show that 2021 brought the biggest price jump in the US housing market, with the average sales price rising by $58,500 between Q1 2021 and Q1 2022, while 2018 follows with a $18,000 year-over-year increase. On the other hand, 2019 was the only year in the past decade that brought a price drop, with the median sales price in the US housing market falling by $18,800.

European Housing Market Saw Much Smaller 10-Year Price Growth

The surging price problem in the US housing market is much bigger than that in Europe. According to European Commission data, house prices in Europe rose by an average of 49% over the past decade or twice less than in the United States.

However, the extent of this increase has varied significantly from country to country, reflecting differing economic conditions and housing market dynamics in the old continent. For instance, the Estonian housing market was hit by a shocking 223% price growth. Hungary and Lithuania follow, with 207% and 170% price increase, respectively.

Other European countries, like Sweden and Finland, experienced relatively modest increases, with their median house prices rising by only 4% in ten years. On the other hand, Italy and Cyprus saw their average house prices drop by 8% and 1.2% in this period, respectively.

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