Across the country, median home values are decreasing. In some locations, at a record pace. Standard & Poor’s Case-Shiller Home Price Index, for example, dropped 19 percent in January from a year earlier. This is the largest decline in the history of the index for the 20 metro markets that it monitors.
But there are exceptions. In a minority of markets, the median home value is holding steady or even increasing. According to Cyberhomes data, two dozen U.S. counties experienced increases in median valuation in February compared with 12 months earlier. The five with the largest increases were:
- Wyandotte County, Kan. (Kansas City): 119.35 percent
- Morgan County, Tenn. (a rural county west of Knoxville): 11.73 percent
- Rock Island, Ill. (Quad Cities): 10.77 percent
- Pitkin County, Colo. (Aspen): 9.72 percent
- Florence County, S.C. (a rural county inland from Myrtle Beach): 7.5 percent
In all but Pitkin County, the median home values in these markets are modest, between approximately $80,000 and $125,000. Aspen is the exception, with a value exceeding $1 million.
This gallery gives a flavor of each market and homes for sale around the median value. Note that Cyberhomes calculates median home value based on publicly available property records and proprietary data, and valuations are an estimation.