15 Cities With the Largest Increase in Home Prices Over the Last Decade

Property values have continued to rise quickly in these cities, even during the pandemic.

Jonathan Jones • October 14, 2020

Realtor helping couple with home for sale — SpeedKingz / Shutterstock.com

This story originally appeared on ConstructionCoverage.

According to data from Zillow, home prices in the U.S. have climbed over 42% in the last decade. While the country’s housing market as a whole recovered strongly from the lows of the Great Recession, the recovery was not evenly distributed throughout the country’s major cities.

As residents of some cities are being priced out of their own neighborhoods, property values in other cities have hardly changed. Even though housing prices have continued to rise during the COVID-19 pandemic, many are beginning to question whether the strong rise in home values will continue in densely populated cities.

The data used in the study comes from Zillow. To find the cities with the largest rise in home prices, researchers at Construction Coverage compared each city’s average median home price in the first six months of 2020 to its average median home price in the first six months of 2010. Cities were then ordered by their respective percentage change in median home price over that 10-year period.

Cities with less than 100,000 residents were not included in this analysis. Additionally, researchers used the latest U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey data to find median household income and population data for each city.

Here are the cities with the largest increase in home prices over the last decade.

15. Boston

Sailboats in Boston harbor. — James Kirkikis / Shutterstock.com

Percentage increase in median home price since 2010: 72.1%
Absolute change in median home price since 2010: $270,462
2020 median home price: $645,689
2010 median home price: $375,227
Median household income: $71,834

14. Austin, Texas

Percentage increase in median home price since 2010: 73.1%
Absolute change in median home price since 2010: $171,712
2020 median home price: $406,596
2010 median home price: $234,883
Median household income: $71,543

13. Tampa, Florida

Percentage increase in median home price since 2010: 73.3%
Absolute change in median home price since 2010: $107,465
2020 median home price: $254,026
2010 median home price: $146,562
Median household income: $54,599

12. Atlanta

Atlanta, Georgia, Piedmont Park skyline autumn — Sean Pavone / Shutterstock.com

Percentage increase in median home price since 2010: 73.4%
Absolute change in median home price since 2010: $125,393
2020 median home price: $296,324
2010 median home price: $170,932
Median household income: $65,345

11. Seattle

Percentage increase in median home price since 2010: 83.2%
Absolute change in median home price since 2010: $340,246
2020 median home price: $749,417
2010 median home price: $409,172
Median household income: $93,481

10. San Francisco

San Francisco, California — canadastock / Shutterstock.com

Percentage increase in median home price since 2010: 87.9%
Absolute change in median home price since 2010: $671,625
2020 median home price: $1,436,087
2010 median home price: $764,462
Median household income: $112,376

9. Denver

Denver, Colorado — EdgeofReason / Shutterstock.com

Percentage increase in median home price since 2010: 88.1%
Absolute change in median home price since 2010: $217,389
2020 median home price: $464,068
2010 median home price: $246,680
Median household income: $68,377

8. Mesa, Arizona

Percentage increase in median home price since 2010: 89.4%
Absolute change in median home price since 2010: $133,919
2020 median home price: $283,741
2010 median home price: $149,823
Median household income: $58,247

7. Aurora, Colorado

Percentage increase in median home price since 2010: 96.6%
Absolute change in median home price since 2010: $178,168
2020 median home price: $362,590
2010 median home price: $184,422
Median household income: $63,128

6. Sacramento, California

Percentage increase in median home price since 2010: 97.8%
Absolute change in median home price since 2010: $176,209
2020 median home price: $356,369
2010 median home price: $180,159
Median household income: $65,046

5. Las Vegas, Nevada

Las Vegas neighborhood with desert hills beyond. — Christopher Boswell / Shutterstock.com

Percentage increase in median home price since 2010: 98.3%
Absolute change in median home price since 2010: $143,651
2020 median home price: $289,830
2010 median home price: $146,179
Median household income: $53,575

4. San Jose, California

The skyline of San Jose, which has a lower median rent than median mortgage payment — stellamc / Shutterstock.com

Percentage increase in median home price since 2010: 98.7%
Absolute change in median home price since 2010: $494,246
2020 median home price: $995,212
2010 median home price: $500,966
Median household income: $113,036

3. Phoenix, Arizona

Aerial view of Phoenix, Arizona — Tim Roberts Photography / Shutterstock.com

Percentage increase in median home price since 2010: 99%
Absolute change in median home price since 2010: $136,536
2020 median home price: $274,488
2010 median home price: $137,952
Median household income: $57,957

2. Detroit

Aerial view of downtown Detroit — Andrey Bayda / Shutterstock.com

Percentage increase in median home price since 2010: 101.7%
Absolute change in median home price since 2010: $19,478
2020 median home price: $38,638
2010 median home price: $19,160
Median household income: $31,283

1. Oakland, California

Percentage increase in median home price since 2010: 102.2%
Absolute change in median home price since 2010: $400,119
2020 median home price: $791,554
2010 median home price: $391,435
Median household income: $76,469

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