The 10 most expensive U.S. metro areas to buy a home

San Jose, California, is the most expensive U.S. metro area to buy a home for the second year running.

With a median home price exceeding $1.6 million as of May 2025, the Silicon Valley city continues to lead the U.S. in high real estate costs, according to a recent report from SmartAsset, a financial technology company. The report analyzed Zillow data on single-family homes, condos and co-ops in 100 of the country’s largest metro areas in 2020, 2024 and 2025.

California is home to the five most expensive markets by median sale price in 2025, SmartAsset found.

“California has this really beautiful intersection of a really highly productive economy, and also just natural beauty that enables a really comfortable lifestyle for a lot of people,” says Jaclyn DeJohn, director of economic analysis at SmartAsset. That “comfortable lifestyle” is a significant pull for buyers, she adds.

With high-paying tech jobs and proximity to the beach, San Jose is a prime, and increasingly pricey, magnet, DeJohn says. The city’s median home cost has increased by 1.63% since May 2024, SmartAsset found.

Here are the median home sale prices in the 10 most expensive housing markets for 2025, according to SmartAsset.

• Median home price, 2025: $1,626,041 
• Increase since 2024: 1.63%
• Increase since 2020: 38.09%

• Median home price, 2025: $1,181,211
• Increase since 2024: -2.38%
• Increase since 2020: 32.72%

• Median home price, 2025: $975,475
• Increase since 2024: 0.56%
• Increase since 2020: 51.24%

• Median home price, 2025: $894,777
• Increase since 2024: -0.58%
• Increase since 2020: 54.67%

• Median home price, 2025: $880,544
• Increase since 2024: 4.83%
• Increase since 2020: 44.95%

• Median home price, 2025: $727,919
• Increase since 2024: -2.29%
• Increase since 2020: 47.65%

• Median home price, 2025: $724,470
• Increase since 2024: 18.68%
• Increase since 2020: 21.27%

• Median home price, 2025: $723,079
• Increase since 2024: 5.56%
• Increase since 2020: 52.15%

• Median home price, 2025: $662,866
• Increase since 2024: 12.35%
• Increase since 2020: 54.15%

• Median home price, 2025: $651,474
• Increase since 2024: 5.08%
• Increase since 2020: 53.29%

Many factors are driving home prices higher across the U.S., but in the country’s most expensive markets, it mostly comes down to strong demand and limited supply, DeJohn says, especially in cities with robust job markets and appealing lifestyle perks. 

With so many hopeful buyers competing for homes, homebuilders are struggling to keep pace, DeJohn says. Zoning restrictions, geographic limitations and construction delays are all making it harder to build sufficient housing inventory, she says. 

Take Honolulu, the seventh-most expensive housing market in the U.S., for example. Because it is located on an island, limited land availability hinders home development. But being surrounded by beaches and ocean is also a lifestyle perk that appeals to buyers.

That combination of scarcity and desirability stiffens competition and drives up prices, DeJohn says. As of May 2025, the median home sale price in Honolulu is $724,470, according to SmartAsset — 18.68% higher than the median sale price in 2024.

These rising prices aren’t just a market trend — they’re reshaping who can actually afford to buy a home right now, DeJohn says.

Especially amid economic challenges like tight job markets and rising costs of living, affordability is becoming a bigger hurdle for many would-be buyers, she says, pushing many to stick to renting for longer than they’d like. 

“If these housing markets continue to get more expensive at rates that outpace wage earners or people’s incomes and saving rates … that might eat up more of your income and make it harder to save,” DeJohn says. “All while the down payment necessary to qualify to purchase a home increases.”

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