Are housing prices rising equally everywhere in the US?
Real house prices in the U.S. rose 20% between February 2020 and September 2021. However, the amount prices rose varied greatly across cities. In 2020, the real house price growth was 15.8% for Boise but only 6.5% for Stockton, 4.6% for New York, and 2.6% for San Francisco. In the first three quarters of 2021 this rate almost doubled to 30.6% in Boise, almost tripled in Stockton to 19.2%, but rose much less in New York (to 7.9%) and San Francisco (to 3.4%). Part of this variation reflects differences in demand as people working from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic looked for more space and moved to exurban areas and smaller cities. Many also left cities for the perceived quality of life and health benefits of living elsewhere during the pandemic.