United States house prices ease in July 2026

The house price index for the United States stood at 451.32 in July 2026, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency. The index measures prices against a base period of January 1991, which is set at 100, and the figures used here are not seasonally adjusted. The July 2026 reading was slightly lower than June 2026, when the index stood at 452.16. Housing Market Group calculates this as a fall of 0.2% on the previous month, based on Federal Housing Finance Agency figures.

The latest figure follows a period of gains earlier in the year. The index was 445.33 in March 2026 and rose to 447.96 in April 2026, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency. It then climbed to 452.26 in May 2026, the highest level among the recent months covered here. Since then the index has eased a little. June 2026 came in just below May at 452.16, and July 2026 moved lower again to 451.32. The movement over the summer months has therefore been modest compared with the increases recorded in the spring.

Because these figures are not seasonally adjusted, month-to-month changes can partly reflect the regular yearly rhythm of the housing market rather than a shift in the underlying direction of prices. Comparing the same month across years helps to set those patterns aside. On that basis, the picture is one of continued growth. In July 2025 the index stood at 440.13, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Housing Market Group calculates that the July 2026 level of 451.32 is 2.5% higher than a year earlier, based on the agency's figures.

Taken together, the readings show a national index that rose through the spring of 2026, levelled off in May and June, and dipped slightly in July, while remaining above its level from July 2025. The monthly decline of 0.2% is small next to the annual rise of 2.5%, and the index in July 2026 was still above its readings for March 2026 and April 2026.

This overview covers the national index only. The figures available for this article do not break the data down by region or state, and they do not include comparisons with other countries or Housing Market Group's own platform measures such as search demand and listings. Readers looking at the United States market should therefore treat these readings as a broad national picture of price levels as reported by the Federal Housing Finance Agency, with the month-on-month and year-on-year changes calculated by Housing Market Group from those figures.