How Home Prices Have Changed Over the Last 133 Years in America
Jul 06, 2026
Home prices did what in America?? 🤯
The big 2-5-0.
There's a lot to celebrate this July 4th.
We've got real momentum in the World Cup, stocks are near an all-time high, and Joey Chestnut is still crushing a shockingly large number of hot dogs.
In honor of America's birthday, I thought we should look back at how home prices have changed since the early days.
Started from the bottom and now we're here! 📈
It all started 250 years ago in 1776.
Unfortunately, you can't get data all the way back to the founding fathers.
Most sources like Zillow and the Federal Reserve only go back to the 70's.
The 1970's...
Luckily, there is one top-shelf source that goes back a bit further.
Robert Shiller (Professor at Yale and half of the Case-Shiller home price index) publishes reputable home price data that goes back to 1890.
Let's take a look:
After starting around $4,000 back in the late 1800's, home prices in America have increased 9,250% over the last 133 years!
The median home price sits at roughly $370,000 today.
It's absolutely eye-popping.
And it tells a big story...
🏡 Owning real estate isn't something that you should maybe think about sometime in the future.
It's one of the best ways to preserve and grow wealth that exists.
Did you know? 🤨
And if you needed a little more convincing, consider that over the last 100 years...
- Home prices in America have increased 4% a year on average.
- Home prices have increased 81 of the last 100 years with just 2 main periods of decline: The Great Depression in 1929 and The Great Recession in 2008.
- The largest single year increase was +24.7% in 1946 (post-war price controls were removed).
- The largest single year decrease was -9.8% in 1932 as a part of the Great Depression.
✅ Here's the truth: prices don't always go up, but they tend to rise over time.
And hear me when I say this: I'm not blindly recommending that you need to buy now.
Don't overextend yourself and buy before you're ready.
But there should be no doubt that buying a home should be a priority if you're interested in preserving and building wealth.
Sometimes we need reminders of this amidst all the headlines designed to scare so we pay attention to them.
If you're nodding your head thinking "amen brother," the big question is who needs to hear this? Forward this to them today.
I hope it leads to an interesting conversation based on facts instead of options!
Happy Independence Day! U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.! ✊🇺🇸
Dr. Alex Stewart
Founder
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