Housing prices are falling. Does it matter?

U.S. home prices continue to fall, but potential buyers and sellers are stuck in place.

According to a new study by Point2, the median home price in the United States has fallen from a peak of $479,500 in the fourth quarter of 2022 to $431,000 in the third quarter of 2023. Over the year, single-family home prices fell in 25 of the 100 largest U.S. cities, while apartment prices fell in 37 of the 100 cities. The price drop affected both single-family homes and condos in 15 cities.

Among the 100 cities, Henderson, Nevada, saw the largest year-over-year decline in condo prices - owners lost about 13 percent of their home's value over the year, or $40,000 on a home with a median price of $269,000. As for single-family homes, Memphis saw the biggest drop in value for the year - about 17 percent or $35,000 on a home with a median price of $170,000. That's a loss of $96 per day.

When ranking cities by total monetary value loss instead of percentage change, both types of homeownership - both multifamily housing and single-family homes - were hit hardest in expensive San Francisco: the median value of an apartment ($1,037,500) lost $122,500, or $336 per day, over the year, while the median value of a single-family home ($1,556,250) declined by $81,250, or $223 per day.

Lower prices may indicate a change in the market, but they aren't doing much to help sell homes right now. Owners who don't want to take a loss are not putting their homes on the market, leaving both sellers and buyers stranded.

This week, we present a list of the 10 largest U.S. cities where the average starting price for condos and single-family homes declined the most compared to last year, based on the percentage of price declines.

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A version of this article appears in the New York edition on page RE, page 2 with the headline: Buyers and Sellers are at a Loss. Order a reprint | News Today | Subscribe.