Home prices are falling fast in these 10 expensive and popular cities

The residential real estate market is slowly shaking off the cobwebs of a sluggish year of buying and selling, and quick-thinking homebuyers stand a good chance of snapping up a property at a lower price than in 2024—if they know where to look.In more than half of the 50 largest U.S.metros, median list prices have plunged year over year—with San Francisco leading the way with a 10.87% decrease, according to the Realtor.com December Housing Market Report.Nationwide, the median list price decreased by 1.8% year over year, settling at $402,502 last month, even as the price per square foot inched up by 1.3% during the same time, pointing to a glut of smaller and more affordable homes on the market.Mortgage rates are at a six-month high, climbing to 6.93% for the average 30-year fixed home loan for the week ending Jan.9, according to Freddie Mac.

But the Realtor.com 2025 housing forecast projects that mortgage rates will average 6.3% across 2025.And there’s more good news for prospective homebuyers: List prices are nosediving in major U.S.markets.In the South and the West, inventory last year nearly approached pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels, and list prices are now finally starting to reflect the abundance of options on the market.“Austin, Denver, Phoenix, and Nashville were the darling markets of 2021 and 2022 and places where prices went wild,” says Realtor.com senior economist Joel Berner.

“Now, with more homes on the market, prices are returning to where they belong.”The number of active listings nationwide surged in December, with 22% more homes up for sale year over year.New listings in the South and the West were also up, at 4.8% and 2%, respectively.San Francisco, a world-renowned tech hub crammed with the well-to-do set, has earned itself a reputation as an uber-expensive city boasting a cost of living 70% higher than the national average.But the popular West Coast destination is not without its problems, including widespread homeless...