Asking Prices Are Falling for the First Time on Record
This chart tracks the national median asking price and the Zillow Home Value Index, both as year-over-year growth. Asking prices turned negative in early 2026 for the first time in a series that begins in 2018, while measured home values still show small gains - sellers adjust their offers before slow-moving value indexes register the change.
What does it show?
The national median asking price has fallen year-over-year for 7 straight months — the only negative stretch since the series began in 2018. Measured home values still show gains; sellers reprice first.
Methodology
Zillow median list price (smoothed, seasonally adjusted) and ZHVI for the United States, both as year-over-year growth over their common span from 2019-03. 'On record' means this sample: the list-price series begins in 2018. The list-minus-value gap is not a record — it reached -10.1 points in September 2021, a composition effect of the pandemic frenzy; the new fact is the outright decline in asking prices (-2.0% in July 2026 vs +1.0% for values). Asking-price growth correlates 0.83 with value growth in the same month and 0.47 with value growth six months later. Median list price is composition-sensitive: a shift toward cheaper listings lowers it without any individual home being repriced, and a listing is an offer, not a transaction. Data provided by Zillow Group; terms verified 2026-07-31.