Home Price Appreciation by State in 2026: All 50 States Ranked

Home price appreciation in 2026 did not tell one national story. Alaska was up 8.30% from a year earlier, New Mexico was down 1.25%, and dozens of states landed somewhere between those two extremes. The national headline was modest growth, but the state-by-state picture was much more uneven.

For this comparison, we use the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s seasonally adjusted Purchase-Only House Price Index. FHFA reported that U.S. house prices increased 2.1% from Q2 2025 to Q2 2026 and 0.3% from Q1 to Q2 2026.

The important question is not simply whether prices went up. It is where they moved fastest, where momentum stalled, and how the latest year compares with the previous five.

Home Price Appreciation by State in 2026

The ranking below uses the one-year percentage change in the FHFA Purchase-Only HPI from Q2 2025 to Q2 2026. District of Columbia data are excluded because this article ranks the 50 states.

Source note: Values come from the FHFA House Price Index, using the seasonally adjusted Purchase-Only state series for Q2 2026. FHFA’s Purchase-Only HPI tracks repeat sales of single-family properties financed with mortgages purchased or securitized by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. State ranks above are recalculated 1 through 50 after excluding D.C.

The 2026 Map Is Split, Not Uniform

A national increase of 2.1% sounds calm. The state ranking shows why that number is only a starting point.

Alaska led the country at 8.30%, followed by Vermont at 7.29% and Hawaii at 5.82%. Illinois and West Virginia also topped 5%.

At the other end, four states posted annual declines: California (-0.20%), Colorado (-0.53%), Washington (-0.94%), and New Mexico (-1.25%).

Thirty states matched or exceeded the national 2.1% annual gain. The median state increase was about 2.78%, so the middle state in this ranking performed somewhat better than the national headline.

That difference matters because national averages can be pulled by the size and weight of large housing markets. A household deciding where to buy, sell, or move will often learn more from the state and metro pattern than from the national figure alone.

A current NAHB analysis of the same FHFA Q2 data also found stronger performance across many Midwest and Northeast markets while several Western and Sun Belt markets remained softer.

Five States That Define the Strong End of the Ranking

Rather than treating the top of the table as one group, it helps to look at what the leading states actually show.

Alaska ranked first with 8.30% annual appreciation. Its quarterly gain was 1.18%, and its five-year increase reached 37.34%.

Vermont ranked second at 7.29% over one year and had the strongest five-year increase in the table at 52.18%.

Hawaii ranked third at 5.82% year over year, but its most striking figure was the latest quarter. The state posted a 4.71% quarterly increase, the largest among all 50 states.

Illinois rose 5.61% over the year, putting a large Midwest market near the top rather than among the slower-growing states.

West Virginia increased 5.58%, illustrating one of the most important distinctions in housing data: a market can have relatively low home values and still post rapid appreciation.

That last point is especially useful when comparing this page with our Average Home Price by State in 2026 ranking. REL-013 answers what homes are worth in dollar terms. This article answers how quickly prices are changing.

Four States Were Below Their Year-Earlier Levels

New Mexico, Washington, Colorado, and California were the only states with negative one-year changes.

New Mexico had the weakest annual result at -1.25% and also the largest quarterly decline at -1.72%.

Washington was down 0.94% year over year and 0.56% for the quarter.

Colorado declined 0.53% over the year, although its quarterly reading turned slightly positive at 0.02%.

California was down 0.20% annually and 0.62% from Q1 to Q2.

Those figures do not mean every city or neighborhood in those states lost value. FHFA’s state index summarizes a broad repeat-sales pattern. Local markets can diverge substantially from the statewide result.

A few states also sat just above zero. Oregon rose 0.29%, North Carolina 0.42%, Texas 0.45%, Mississippi 0.47%, and Arizona 0.58%. That is better described as slow appreciation than strong growth.

For readers interested in negotiating conditions rather than price change alone, our Best Buyer’s Markets in the U.S. in 2026 analysis looks at buyer leverage more directly.

The Five-Year Column Changes the Story

One-year data show current direction. Five-year data show how much ground prices have already covered.

Vermont’s five-year increase was 52.18%. New Jersey followed at 50.51%, Connecticut at 49.56%, Maine at 47.17%, New Hampshire at 46.09%, and Wisconsin at 46.03%.

At the other end, Oregon rose 15.84% over five years, Colorado 15.97%, Louisiana 16.33%, California 17.31%, and Washington 19.96%.

This longer view explains why a weak 2026 reading should not automatically be interpreted as a major reset. California, Colorado, and Washington all posted annual declines, yet each remained materially above its level five years earlier.

Maine shows the reverse kind of tension. It was still 1.11% above its year-earlier level, but it fell 1.30% in the latest quarter. That combination suggests softer recent momentum inside a market that remains higher over the full year.

The lesson is simple: the one-year and five-year columns answer different questions. One measures current appreciation. The other shows the cumulative change since 2021.

What FHFA Is Actually Measuring

The FHFA HPI is not a table of median sale prices, average sale prices, or typical home values.

FHFA explains that its House Price Index uses repeat transactions on the same properties over time. The flagship Purchase-Only series relies on sales involving conventional mortgages purchased or securitized by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.

That repeat-sales approach matters because ordinary averages and medians can change when the mix of homes sold changes. If one quarter contains more expensive properties than another, a simple median or average can move even if individual properties did not appreciate by the same amount.

A repeat-sales index tries to isolate price change by comparing the same properties across transactions.

That makes the HPI well suited to a home price appreciation ranking, but it also gives the data clear limits. Statewide figures do not represent every property type, every financing channel, or every local market.

Why Quarterly and Annual Numbers Can Disagree

Quarterly data are useful because they show what happened most recently. They are also noisier.

Hawaii had the strongest quarterly increase at 4.71%, followed by Rhode Island at 2.37%, Delaware at 1.92%, West Virginia at 1.91%, and Wyoming at 1.82%.

At the low end, New Mexico fell 1.72%, Maine 1.30%, California 0.62%, South Dakota 0.61%, and Washington 0.56%.

Several states therefore show mixed signals.

Maine was positive over the year but negative for the quarter. Colorado was negative over the year but slightly positive for the quarter. Nebraska gained 2.03% annually while falling 0.52% in Q2.

That is why the primary ranking uses the one-year measure. A year-over-year comparison reduces some short-term volatility while still reflecting current market direction.

Readers who want broader context on supply, demand, mortgage rates, and inventory can use the U.S. Housing Markets hub.

Why Appreciation Rates Diverge Across States

Housing markets respond differently because the forces behind prices are local even when mortgage rates are national.

Inventory matters. A market with limited for-sale supply can maintain price pressure even when demand softens. The opposite can happen where listings recover faster than buyer demand.

Affordability matters. Higher mortgage rates reduce purchasing power. In expensive markets, that can slow demand more sharply because buyers have less room to absorb higher monthly payments.

Migration and household formation matter. Population inflows can support demand, but their effect depends on income levels, local housing supply, construction, and the kinds of households moving into the area.

Earlier price growth matters. Markets that ran far ahead earlier in the decade may cool as affordability deteriorates. Lower-cost markets can sometimes keep rising if demand remains healthy and inventory stays constrained.

The Housing Economy hub follows the larger economic forces behind these patterns, including interest rates, employment, construction, supply, and demand.

Appreciation Is Not Affordability

A fast-rising market is not automatically unaffordable, and a declining market is not automatically affordable.

West Virginia demonstrates the first point. It ranked fifth for annual appreciation at 5.58%, yet its home-value level remains far below that of California, Hawaii, or Massachusetts.

California demonstrates the second. It recorded a small annual decline, but homes there remain expensive in dollar terms.

Price level, price change, and household affordability are three separate measurements.

For current dollar values, use Average Home Price by State in 2026. For the relationship between home prices and income, use Home Price-to-Income Ratio by State.

How Buyers, Sellers, and Homeowners Can Read the Ranking

The table is most useful as a market signal, not as a decision rule.

For a buyer, strong appreciation may indicate tighter competition or limited inventory, but it can also mean affordability is deteriorating. Slow appreciation can create more breathing room, yet high mortgage rates or limited listings may still make the market difficult.

For a seller, positive appreciation can support equity and asking prices, but a statewide gain does not guarantee that a particular neighborhood or property type moved at the same rate.

For an existing homeowner, appreciation can increase equity while also raising the cost of replacing the current home.

The practical next step is to move from state data to the market that actually matters to you. Compare the metro, city, neighborhood, price range, housing type, and local inventory. The U.S. States hub can help continue that research.

Methodology

We ranked all 50 states using the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s seasonally adjusted Purchase-Only House Price Index for Q2 2026.

The primary ranking metric is the one-year percentage change from Q2 2025 to Q2 2026. The table also includes:

• the one-quarter change from Q1 2026 to Q2 2026;
• the five-year percentage change for longer-term context.

FHFA’s source table includes the District of Columbia. Because this article ranks states, D.C. is excluded and the sequence is recalculated from 1 through 50.

The Purchase-Only HPI uses sales transactions for single-family properties with conventional mortgages purchased or securitized by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. FHFA constructs the index with a weighted repeat-sales methodology.

The HPI measures price change, not a median sale price, arithmetic average sale price, or typical home-value estimate.

Primary references are FHFA’s HPI datasets, FHFA’s HPI FAQs, and the agency’s Q2 2026 release. Current interpretation was independently cross-checked against NAHB’s September 2026 analysis of the same quarterly FHFA data.

Questions Readers Usually Ask

Which state had the highest home price appreciation in 2026?

Alaska ranked first in the FHFA Q2 2026 data with 8.30% one-year appreciation. Vermont followed at 7.29%, then Hawaii at 5.82%.

Which states had falling home prices?

Four states were below their Q2 2025 index levels: California at -0.20%, Colorado at -0.53%, Washington at -0.94%, and New Mexico at -1.25%.

How much did U.S. house prices rise nationally?

FHFA reported a 2.1% year-over-year increase from Q2 2025 to Q2 2026 and a 0.3% increase from Q1 to Q2 2026.

Is appreciation the same as market value?

No. Appreciation measures how much a price or price index changes over time. Market value is a dollar estimate of what a property may be worth at a particular point.

Does strong appreciation mean a state is a good place to buy?

Not by itself. Buyers still need to consider income, mortgage rates, inventory, taxes, insurance, local employment, expected holding period, and the price of the specific property.

What the Ranking Says Overall

Most states were still appreciating in Q2 2026, but the pace had become highly uneven. Alaska, Vermont, and Hawaii were gaining much faster than the national market, while New Mexico, Washington, Colorado, and California were below their year-earlier levels.

The five-year column adds an important counterweight to the short-term story. Several states with weak current readings remain substantially above 2021 levels, which is why a single quarter or year should not be treated as the whole market cycle.

To compare these appreciation rates with what homes actually cost today, continue with our Average Home Price by State in 2026 ranking.