Kasey Barnes- Realtor

10/02/2026

"The sky is falling" headlines are everywhere right now, so I went back through 100 years of U.S. home prices to see what the data actually says. 📊

Let's be fair first: some of this is real. Mortgage rates have topped 7%. The 10-year Treasury hit a 19-year high. Home prices have lagged inflation for 14 straight months. Oil is over $100. Nobody has a real playbook for this exact mix.

But here's what history shows:
• Great Depression (1925–33): prices fell about 30% and took 19 years to fully recover.
• Early '80s: mortgage rates hit 18.6%, and prices still went UP.
• S&L crisis (1990–91): about 3% nationally, back in roughly 3 years.
• 2006–2012: down 27%, driven by risky lending, and about 10 years to a new high.
• 2020: a global shutdown, and prices rose 11%.
• 2022–23: rates doubled, prices dipped 5%, and they were back in 13 months.

The two real crashes came from a collapse in lending, not from high rates. Today, the average homeowner with a mortgage has about $310K in equity, and only about 2% of homeowners owe more than their home is worth.

Here in Greater Chattanooga, the August median sold price was up 3.3% from last year, and buyers have 22% more homes to choose from. That's a market finding its balance.

Headlines move fast. Home values move slowly. And values are always hyperlocal. If you want the real numbers for your neighborhood, message me. No pressure, just data.

Experience. Strategy. Confidence.

Sources: S&P Cotality Case-Shiller (FRED), Robert Shiller home price data, Freddie Mac, Cotality, Realtor.com, Greater Chattanooga MLS. Headlines quoted from Fox Business, BiggerPockets, ResiClub, and Moneywise/Yahoo Finance.

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Compass specializes in homes for sale across Louisiana & Mississippi. Contact us for more information about our LA and MS real estate services today.

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Compass specializes in homes for sale across Louisiana & Mississippi. Contact us for more information about our LA and MS real estate services today.

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Compass specializes in homes for sale across Louisiana & Mississippi. Contact us for more information about our LA and MS real estate services today.

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