Since Q1 2020, home prices have risen 69.1% in the Cincinnati metro and 67.3% in the Columbus metro. The US rose 60.5% over the same quarters, so Cincinnati has outpaced the US by 8.6 points and Columbus has outpaced the US by 6.8 points.
Measured against each other, Cincinnati is 1.8 points ahead of Columbus since Q1 2020. Over the four quarters to Q2 2026, home prices rose 3.8% in Cincinnati and 3.3% in Columbus, against +3.0% for the US.
Home prices and the 30-year mortgage rate
The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate was 3.5% in Q1 2020. It fell to 2.8% in Q4 2020 and stayed at or below its starting level through Q4 2021, then climbed to 7.3% in Q4 2023. It averaged 6.4% in Q2 2026.
From Q1 2020 to Q4 2021, while rates stayed low, home prices rose 12.0% a year in Cincinnati and 12.6% in Columbus. From Q4 2021 to Q2 2026, as rates climbed, they rose 7.5% a year in Cincinnati and 7.0% in Columbus. Both slowed after Q4 2021, Columbus by 5.6 points a year and Cincinnati by 4.5 points. The US went from 13.1% a year to 5.9%.
| Q1 2020 to Q4 2021Rate 3.5% to 3.1% | +12.0% | +12.6% | +13.1% |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q4 2021 to Q2 2026Rate 3.1% to 6.4% | +7.5% | +7.0% | +5.9% |
| Four quarters to Q2 2026Rate 6.8% to 6.4% | +3.8% | +3.3% | +3.0% |
Compare any market
The explorer opens on Cincinnati and Columbus. Search for any state, metro area, county or ZIP code to draw the same comparison, with the mortgage rate underneath. For New York against Washington and every state, metro, county and ZIP code against the US, read DC and New York since the pandemic.
Using this chart
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How the numbers are built
Home prices come from the Federal Housing Finance Agency's all-transactions house price index, which tracks repeat sales and refinance appraisals on the same homes through mortgages bought or guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Because it follows the same homes, it measures price change on a steady basket, where a median sale price moves with the mix of homes that sold. The two series are FHFA's Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN and Columbus, OH metro areas. Figures are quarterly, nominal and not seasonally adjusted.
The mortgage rate is Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey average for a 30-year fixed-rate loan, a weekly series averaged over each quarter. Yearly paces are compound rates over each period. Data as of September 28, 2026.