San Jose, California, is the most costly U.S. metro space to purchase a house for the second yr operating.
With a median house worth exceeding $1.6 million as of Might 2025, the Silicon Valley metropolis continues to guide the U.S. in excessive actual property prices, in keeping with a current report from SmartAsset, a monetary know-how firm. The report analyzed Zillow information on single-family properties, condos and co-ops in 100 of the nation’s largest metro areas in 2020, 2024 and 2025.
California is house to the 5 most costly markets by median sale worth in 2025, SmartAsset discovered.
“California has this actually lovely intersection of a very extremely productive financial system, and likewise simply pure magnificence that permits a very snug life-style for lots of people,” says Jaclyn DeJohn, director of financial evaluation at SmartAsset. That “snug life-style” is a big pull for consumers, she provides.
With high-paying tech jobs and proximity to the seaside, San Jose is a chief, and more and more expensive, magnet, DeJohn says. Town’s median house price has elevated by 1.63% since Might 2024, SmartAsset discovered.
Listed below are the median house sale costs within the 10 most costly housing markets for 2025, in keeping with SmartAsset.
1. San Jose, California
- Median house worth, 2025: $1,626,041
- Improve since 2024: 1.63%
- Improve since 2020: 38.09%
2. San Francisco
- Median house worth, 2025: $1,181,211
- Improve since 2024: -2.38%
- Improve since 2020: 32.72%
3. Los Angeles
- Median house worth, 2025: $975,475
- Improve since 2024: 0.56%
- Improve since 2020: 51.24%
4. San Diego
- Median house worth, 2025: $894,777
- Improve since 2024: -0.58%
- Improve since 2020: 54.67%
5. Oxnard, California
- Median house worth, 2025: $880,544
- Improve since 2024: 4.83%
- Improve since 2020: 44.95%
6. Seattle
- Median house worth, 2025: $727,919
- Improve since 2024: -2.29%
- Improve since 2020: 47.65%
7. Honolulu
- Median house worth, 2025: $724,470
- Improve since 2024: 18.68%
- Improve since 2020: 21.27%
8. Boston
- Median house worth, 2025: $723,079
- Improve since 2024: 5.56%
- Improve since 2020: 52.15%
9. Bridgeport, Connecticut
- Median house worth, 2025: $662,866
- Improve since 2024: 12.35%
- Improve since 2020: 54.15%
10. New York
- Median house worth, 2025: $651,474
- Improve since 2024: 5.08%
- Improve since 2020: 53.29%
Too many consumers, not sufficient properties
Many elements are driving house costs greater throughout the U.S., however within the nation’s most costly markets, it principally comes all the way down to sturdy demand and restricted provide, DeJohn says, particularly in cities with strong job markets and interesting life-style perks.
With so many hopeful consumers competing for properties, homebuilders are struggling to maintain tempo, DeJohn says. Zoning restrictions, geographic limitations and building delays are all making it tougher to construct adequate housing stock, she says.
Take Honolulu, the seventh-most costly housing market within the U.S., for instance. As a result of it’s positioned on an island, restricted land availability hinders house growth. However being surrounded by seashores and ocean can also be a life-style perk that appeals to consumers.
That mixture of shortage and desirability stiffens competitors and drives up costs, DeJohn says. As of Might 2025, the median house sale worth in Honolulu is $724,470, in keeping with SmartAsset — 18.68% greater than the median sale worth in 2024.
These rising costs aren’t only a market development — they’re reshaping who can really afford to purchase a house proper now, DeJohn says.
Particularly amid financial challenges like tight job markets and rising prices of residing, affordability is turning into a much bigger hurdle for a lot of would-be consumers, she says, pushing many to stay to renting for longer than they’d like.
“If these housing markets proceed to get costlier at charges that outpace wage earners or individuals’s incomes and saving charges … which may eat up extra of your earnings and make it tougher to avoid wasting,” DeJohn says. “All whereas the down cost essential to qualify to buy a house will increase.”
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