Champaign-Urbana amongst 10 metros with highest spikes in dwelling costs, information exhibits

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(NEXSTAR) – Despite persistently-high mortgage rates, home prices in U.S. metro areas continue to rise in 2024, new data shows.

Over 90% of metro markets have seen gains in the first quarter of the year, according to the National Association of Realtors, with Illinois taking six of the top 10 spots. The highest year-over-year jump was in Fond du Lac, Wis. (23.7%), with Kankakee, Ill. (22%); Rockford, Ill. (20.1%); Champaign-Urbana, Ill. (20%); and Johnson City, Tenn. (19.3%) rounding out the top five.

The spike in prices in those areas happened as the 30-year fixed mortgage rate ranged from 6.60% to nearly 7%, data from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis shows.

“Astonishingly, greater than 90% of the country’s metro areas experienced home price growth despite facing the highest mortgage rates in two decades,” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. “In the current market, rising prices are the direct result of insufficient housing supply not meeting the full demand.”

See the full top 10:

Rank	Metro Area	YOY Increase
1.	Fond du Lac, Wis.	23.7%
2.	Kankakee, Ill.	22.0%
3.	Rockford, Ill.	20.1%
4.	Champaign-Urbana, Ill.	20.0%
5.	Johnson City, Tenn.	19.3%
6.	Racine, Wis.	19.0%
7.	Newark, N.J.-Pa.	18.8%
8.	Bloomington, Ill.	18.5%
9.	New York-Jersey City-White Plains, N.Y.-N.J.	18.4%
10.	Cumberland, Md.-W.Va.	18.2%

When it comes to the overall home price, California markets made up eight of the top 10 most expensive, led by San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif. ($1,840,000; 13.7%), Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine, Calif. ($1,365,000; 14.2%) and San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, Calif. ($1,300,000; 14%). The most affordable of the top 10 was the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale area, with a median price of $823,000, up 10.2% over the previous year.

“The expensive markets in the West, where home prices declined last year, are roaring back,” Yun said. “Price dips in that region were viewed as second-chance opportunities by many buyers.”

The two non-California markets in the top 10 were Urban Honolulu, Hawaii ($1,085,800; 5.5%); and Naples-Immokalee-Marco Island, Fla. ($850,000; 9.4%).