Housing prices fell in January on an annual basis in 12 major housing markets in the West of Texas, plus Austin|Dietmar Rabich|CC BY-SA 4.0

The housing markets in the two US coasts are behaving unusually. Prices in the East are rising, while the West is seeing a drop.

Experts attribute the COVID-19 pandemic and the consequent movement of population, and interest rate hikes as major reasons.

Housing prices fell in January on an annual basis in 12 major housing markets in the West of Texas, plus Austin, according to mortgage-data firm Black Knight Inc—San Francisco (-10.3%), San Jose (-10.5%) and Seattle (-7.5%).

But at the same time, 37 biggest metro areas in the East of Colorado, except Austin, saw a rise in housing prices—Miami (+12%), Orlando (+9.3%) and Buffalo (+8.3%).

Why the anomaly?
The housing market has been booming in the West for almost the past 40 years, in some parts due to the rapid growth in the technology industry. Post-pandemic, the prices started falling as mortgage rates spiked.

In the Eastern half, however, a tight inventory of houses as well as job growth are helping with the rise in housing prices.