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ARLINGTON, Va. — Homes.com, a CoStar Group leading online residential marketplace, released its August 2026 housing market report, showing that the national median sale price reached $395,000, up 2.1% from August 2025. Home sales declined 4.3% from a year earlier, while the number of homes for sale increased 5.4% year over year.
Prices continue to rise as buyers become more selective
The combination of rising prices, declining sales activity, and growing inventory suggests that buyers remain active but are becoming increasingly selective in the homes they choose to purchase. As a result, demand remains sufficient to support modest home-price appreciation even in a slower sales environment.
Price growth also remained widespread, although local market conditions varied considerably. Among the nation’s 40 largest housing markets, 28 posted year-over-year increases in median sale prices, with Pittsburgh and Cleveland continuing a pattern of strong price performance among more-affordable Midwestern markets, while Austin and Raleigh were among the markets where prices declined under supply pressure. Those differences highlight the importance of local supply-and-demand conditions and give buyers, sellers and agents a reminder that national trends can mask meaningful variation across individual housing markets.
Housing market conditions also varied across property types. Single-family homes continued to outperform other categories, recording the strongest price gains and the smallest decline in sales activity. The median sale price for single-family homes increased 1.3% from a year earlier to $400,000, while condominium prices rose 1.9% to $349,087 and townhome prices remained unchanged at $360,000. Sales declined across all three property types, falling 3.8% for single-family homes, 4.6% for townhomes, and 8.8% for condominiums. Inventory increased 5.8% for single-family homes, 8.3% for townhomes, and 1.8% for condominiums.
“Today’s housing market is sending a clear message: buyers remain in the market, but they’re becoming choosier,” said Brad Case, Homes.com Chief Residential Economist. “That pattern suggests that demand remains sufficient to support home prices, but buyers appear to be increasingly selective about the homes they choose to purchase.”
The August results point to a housing market that remains broadly balanced. Buyers have more choices than they did a year ago, yet they appear increasingly selective about the homes they purchase. If buyers continue to absorb the most attractive listings while remaining selective about others, inventory could become somewhat tighter even without a broad increase in sales activity. Under those conditions, home prices may continue to rise, but likely at a pace more consistent with the modest gains seen over the past year.
Additional market insights and reports are available at https://www.homes.com/reports/.