Americans now need to earn $114,000 to afford the median-priced home
Pending home sales fall for the fourth straight month YoY, down 3.2%
Active listings rise 30.6% YoY, surpassing April 2020 levels
Price reductions hit 18.0% of listings
AUSTIN, Texas, May 1, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- A U.S. household now needs to earn $114,000 annually to afford a median-priced home. That's up 70.1% from $67,000 just six years ago according to the Realtor.com® April Housing Trends Report. While it's clear that buying a home has become significantly more expensive, there are optimistic signs that today's market is slowly shifting in buyers' favor. Inventory is climbing, more sellers are adjusting their prices, and buyers are beginning to gain a bit more leverage in the market.
"Even with today's affordability hurdles, meaningful changes in the market could give buyers a better shot at finding a home," said Danielle Hale, Chief Economist at Realtor.com®. "The number of homes for sale is rising in many markets, giving shoppers more choices than they've had in years. Sellers are becoming more flexible on pricing, underscored by the price reductions we're seeing, and while higher mortgage rates are certainly weighing on demand, the silver lining is that the market is starting to rebalance. This could create opportunities for buyers who are prepared."
April 2025 Housing Metrics – National (*For metro stats, see Table 1 and Table 2 below)
Metric
April 2025
Change over
Mar. 2025 (MoM)
Change over
Apr. 2024 (YoY)
Change over Apr. 2019
Median listing price
$431,250
+1.5 %
+0.3 %
+36.9 %
Active listings
959,251
+7.5 %
+30.6 %
-15.6 %
New listings
471,788
+8.2 %
+9.2 %
-14.6 %
Median days on market
50
-3 days
+4 days
-4 days
Share of active listings with price reductions
18.0 %
+0.5 percentage points
+2.5 percentage points
+3.5 percentage points
Median List Price Per Sq.Ft.
$233
+1.0 %
+1.1 %
+54.0 %
A $114,000 Homeownership Threshold Since 2019, the income required to afford the median-priced home has risen $47,000 to $114,00. This figure assumes a 30-year fixed mortgage, a 20% down payment, and no more than 30% of gross monthly income spent on housing. The widening gap is fueled by a combination of rapid home price appreciation and elevated mortgage rates but in some markets, the bar is even higher.
Markets with the Highest Required Incomes to Afford a Home
Metro Area
Required Income to Afford Median Home
Required Income vs Apr. 2019
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA
$370,069
+54.3 %
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA
$263,023
+30.5 %
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA
$315,892
+86.0 %
San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA
$258,926
+73.4 %
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA
$206,777
+54.9 %
Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH
$232,095
+81.9 %
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ
$208,687
+69.4 %
Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO
$158,462
+42.2 %
Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA
$167,481
+61.7 %
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV
$164,682
+59.1 %
Five California markets showed up in the list above. The state, along with many others represented here, are among the lowest scorers in a recent Realtor.com® analysis, which assigned a grade (A+ through F) to each state based on home affordability. And, it's clear that California has a lot of homework to do – pun intended.
January Set the Tone and April Followed: Pending Home Sales Continue to Drop From October to December last year, pending home sales were relatively stronger on a year-over-year basis. But since January, the momentum has shifted, and in April, pending home sales declined 3.2% compared with a year ago, marking the fourth consecutive month of annual declines. A renewed rise in mortgage rates, now back to levels seen in early 2024, is likely a key factor behind the slowdown. As borrowing costs climbed again in late April, some buyers who had been waiting for more favorable conditions are hitting pause, injecting new uncertainty into the market as it moves into the typically busy summer season.
Shifts in Pending Home Sales YoY
Month
YoY Change in Pending Home Sales
April 2025
- 3.2 %
March 2025
- 5.3 %
February 2025
- 5.4 %
January 2025
- 4.1 %
December 2024
+ 2.4 %
November 2024
+ 8.2 %
October 2024
+ 4.3 %
Where's the Silver Lining? In light of affordability concerns and more choice for buyers, data suggest that some sellers are meeting buyers in the middle. This month, 18.0% of listings saw price reductions. Additionally, active listings were up 30.6% year-over-year, surpassing April 2020 levels, a notable pandemic-era benchmark.
The West (+41.7%) and South (+33.3%) led the way in active listings growth, while certain markets, including San Diego (+70.1%), San Jose (+67.6%), and Washington, D.C. (+69.3%) saw the biggest local gains. Despite this, nationwide inventory still sits 16.3% below 2017–2019 norms, meaning buyers have more options but the market hasn't fully recovered.
The full April 2025 monthly housing trends report with additional findings can be found here.
*Table 1: April 2025 Top 50 Metros Median Listing Price and Income
Methodology Realtor.com housing data as of April 2025. Listings include the active inventory of existing single-family homes and condos/townhomes/row homes/co-ops for the given level of geography on Realtor.com; new construction is excluded unless listed via an MLS that provides listing data to Realtor.com. Realtor.com data history goes back to July 2016. The 50 largest U.S. metropolitan areas as defined by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB-202301) and Claritas 2025 estimates of household counts. With the release of its January 2025 housing trends report, Realtor.com® has restated data points for some previous months. As a result of these changes, some of the data released since January 2025 will not be directly comparable with previous data releases (files downloaded before January 2025) and Realtor.com® economics research reports.
About Realtor.com® Realtor.com® pioneered online real estate and has been at the forefront for over 25 years, connecting buyers, sellers, and renters with trusted insights, professional guidance and powerful tools to help them find their perfect home. Recognized as the No. 1 site trusted by real estate professionals, Realtor.com® is a valued partner, delivering consumer connections and a robust suite of marketing tools to support business growth. Realtor.com® is operated by News Corp [Nasdaq: NWS, NWSA] [ASX: NWS, NWSLV] subsidiary Move, Inc.
