Article · Housing

US house prices and affordability

A new house sold in the US cost $393,300 at the median in Q3 2026 and $494,400 on average. In 2025 the median price came to 4.8 years of a typical household's income, against 3.2 in 1967, and the monthly mortgage payment on it took 28.7% of that income — below the 1981 peak of 42.2%.

Updated with Sep 2026 data8 min read

Median new house, Q3 2026

$393,300−4.1%

the average was $494,400; the change is against Q3 2025

Price in years of income, 2025

4.8

median new house ÷ median household income; 3.2 in 1967, 5.8 at the high in 2022

Monthly payment, 2025

$2,089

principal and interest on $417,400 at 6.4%, 20% down, 30 years

Payment ÷ income, 2025

28.7%

of the median household's income; the high was 42.2% in 1981, the low 18.8% in 1971

Since 1963

×23.2

the median new house: $18,000 in 1963, $417,400 in 2025; after inflation ×2.2

What a new house costs

In Q3 2026 half of the new houses sold in the US went for less than $393,300 and half for more. The average, pulled up by the most expensive houses, was $494,400. The median was 4.1% lower than in Q3 2025. The highest quarterly median so far was $442,600 in Q4 2022; the latest is 11.1% below it.

These are new houses, the ones the Census Bureau's Survey of Construction has followed since 1963. Most homes that change hands are existing homes; their prices are tracked by indexes such as Shiller's US home price index. And the houses built now differ from those of 1963 in size and features, so the median is not the price of the same house over time.

The median of 1963, $18,000, comes to about $196,800 in dollars of Q3 2026: after inflation, a new house costs about 2.0 times what it did. The switch shows every price in dollars of Q3 2026.

Median priceAverage price

Sales price of new houses sold in the US, by quarter, land included; in dollars of each quarter. Prices: U.S. Census Bureau and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Survey of Construction (New Residential Sales)

Prices by region

Region	Q3 2026	Q3 2025	Change
Northeast	$647,000	$727,400	−11.1%
Midwest	$400,200	$391,900	+2.1%
South	$350,300	$363,300	−3.6%
West	$532,000	$532,200	0.0%
United States	$393,300	$410,100	−4.1%

Median sales price of new houses sold in the four Census regions, in dollars of each quarter. Regional figures rest on smaller samples and swing more than the national one.

A house in years of income

Divide the median price of a new house by the median income of a US household and you get the price in years of income — before taxes, with nothing spent on anything else. In 1967 it was 3.2 years; in 2025, 4.8 years. The highest was 5.8 in 2022, the lowest 2.7 in 1970.

Before 2000 the ratio averaged 3.6 years; since 2000, 4.9. From 1967 to 2025 household income grew ×12.2 and the price of the median new house ×18.4.

One year of median household incomeAverage 1967–2025: 4.2 years

Each column is a year: the median sales price of a new house ÷ the median household income of that year. A whole brick is one year of income. Income: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, Annual Social and Economic Supplements

Price and rate together: the monthly payment

What a buyer feels every month depends on the price and on the mortgage rate. Take the year's median new house, 20% down and a 30-year loan at the year's average mortgage rate: in 2025 principal and interest came to $2,089 a month at 6.4%, or 28.7% of the median household's income — above the 1967–2025 average of 27.2%.

The heaviest year was 1981: the mortgage rate averaged 14.39% and the payment took 42.2% of income, although the house cost only 3.6 years of it. The lightest was 1971, at 18.8%. 20 of the 59 years since 1967 took a larger share than 2025.

The map below puts every year on two axes: the mortgage rate and the price in years of income. The dashed curves join the points where the payment takes the same share of income. A year can land on a heavy curve through high rates, like 1982, or through high prices, like 2022.

A yearSame payment ÷ income

Each dot is a year, 1967–2025. Curves: principal and interest on 80% of the price over 30 years, as a share of income, at any rate and price. Mortgage rate: Federal Housing Finance Agency, Monthly Interest Rate Survey and National Mortgage Database

The payment's share of income, year by year

The same share as bars. Two things move it: the price in years of income, which ranged from 2.7 to 5.8, and the mortgage rate, from 3.2% to 14.73%.

Payment as a share of income

Principal and interest on 80% of the year's median new-house price, 30 years at the year's average rate, × 12 ÷ median household income. The rate comes from FHFA's survey to 2018 and from its mortgage database since 2019. Mortgage rate: Federal Housing Finance Agency, Monthly Interest Rate Survey and National Mortgage Database

Then and now

The same sums for one year of each decade and for 2025. Dollar figures are in money of each year; the switch above the price chart shows them in dollars of Q3 2026.

1970

Median new house: $23,400
Mortgage rate: 8.22%
Monthly payment: $140
Household income: $8,734

1980

Median new house: $64,600
Mortgage rate: 12.46%
Monthly payment: $550
Household income: $17,710

1990

Median new house: $122,900
Mortgage rate: 9.74%
Monthly payment: $844
Household income: $29,940

2000

Median new house: $169,000
Mortgage rate: 7.86%
Monthly payment: $979
Household income: $41,990

2010

Median new house: $221,800
Mortgage rate: 4.81%
Monthly payment: $932
Household income: $49,280

2020

Median new house: $330,900
Mortgage rate: 3.4%
Monthly payment: $1,174
Household income: $68,010

2025

Median new house: $417,400
Mortgage rate: 6.4%
Monthly payment: $2,089
Household income: $87,460

Payment: principal and interest with 20% down over 30 years at the year's average rate. The bar shows the payment's share of income on a scale to 50%.

The long view: since 1890

New-house prices start in 1963. Robert Shiller's index reaches back to 1890 and follows the prices of comparable existing homes: a house that cost $100 in 1890 cost about $9,500 in July 2026. Consumer prices rose ×43.9 over the same years, so after inflation the house costs ×2.2 what it did, or 0.6% a year. After inflation the index peaked in May 2022; the latest is 3.7% below that. More on US home prices since 1890.

A house worth $100 in 1890

Shiller's US home price index as a house worth $100 in 1890, in dollars of each year. Log scale: equal steps are equal percentage changes. Long view: Robert J. Shiller, US Home Prices 1890–Present (Irrational Exuberance, 3rd ed., as updated by the author) · inflation: US CPI, Shiller's data

Questions people ask

What is the average house price in the US?

For new houses, $494,400 on average and $393,300 at the median in Q3 2026, according to the Census Bureau. By region the median ran from $350,300 in the South to $647,000 in the Northeast. In September 2026 alone the median was $400,400; single months swing a lot.

How much have house prices gone up since 1970?

The median new house cost $23,400 in 1970 and $417,400 in 2025: ×17.8. After inflation, ×2.1. Median household income grew ×10 from 1970 to 2025.

Are houses less affordable than ever?

By price against income, 2025 (4.8 years of income) was topped in 16 of the 59 years; the record is 5.8, in 2022. By the monthly payment, which counts the mortgage rate too, the hardest year was 1981, at 42.2% of income, against 28.7% in 2025.

How much income do you need to buy a median-priced new house?

With 20% down and a 30-year loan at 2025's average rate of 6.4%, principal and interest on $417,400 come to $2,089 a month. Lenders traditionally keep housing payments under 28% of gross income; for this payment alone that means about $89,500 a year, against a median household income of $87,460. Property taxes, insurance and the down payment of $83,500 come on top.

Go deeper

US home prices since 1890Shiller's index after inflation, booms and busts, homes vs stocks Treasury yieldsThe 10-year yield and the whole curve since 1990 Mortgage rates historyEvery year since 1963, by decade, after inflation Inflation calculatorWhat a dollar of any month since 1871 is worth today

How the numbers are calculated

Prices: U.S. Census Bureau and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Survey of Construction, New Residential Sales: median and average sales price of new houses sold, monthly, quarterly and annual since 1963, land included (public domain).
Mortgage rate: Federal Housing Finance Agency, the Monthly Interest Rate Survey (Table 9, average contract rate on conventional home-purchase loans) to 2018 and the National Mortgage Database (average contract rate of conventional home-purchase loans) from 2019. In 1998–2018, when both exist, the database runs 0.3 points higher on average, so the series may step up by about that much in 2019 (public domain).
Income: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, Annual Social and Economic Supplements, Historical Income Tables, Table H-5: median household income in current dollars, before taxes (public domain). Census gives two estimates for 2013 and 2017 (changes in the survey); the series keeps the one comparable with later years, so it has small breaks there.
Long view: Robert J. Shiller, US Home Prices 1890–Present, a chain of sources; since 1975 the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index.
New houses only: the Census figures are prices of new single-family houses sold, not of all homes, and not of the same house over time (size and features change). They are not seasonally adjusted; recent months are revised and single months are volatile.
The rate is the average contract rate on conventional (not FHA or VA) home-purchase loans of all terms, fixed and adjustable, without fees and points. It is not the 30-year fixed rate quoted in the news: in years with many adjustable-rate loans it runs lower, and closed loans trail the market by the weeks between rate lock and closing.
Monthly payment: principal and interest on a loan of 80% of the year's median price, 30 years, fixed at the year's average rate: L × i ÷ (1 − (1 + i)⁻³⁶⁰), i = rate ÷ 12. Property taxes, insurance and mortgage insurance are not included. Share of income: 12 × payment ÷ median household income of the year; years of income: median price ÷ median household income.
After inflation: values × CPI of Q3 2026 ÷ CPI of their quarter or year (US CPI-U, Robert Shiller's data); the long view in dollars of 1890.
History, not a forecast. Nothing here is investment, mortgage or tax advice.