If you're a first time buyer who purchased with a small down payment in the last couple of years, you might need to stay in that home for a few more years before you can comfortably move up to the next one.

A Look at the Numbers

Here's how the median sales price has changed year over year in our market:

2020: +10%
2021: +10%
2022: +11%
2023: +8%
2024: +6%
2025: no change
2026: no change

After several years in a row of rapidly climbing prices, they have essentially flatted out now.

If You Bought in 2019, 2020, or 2021

Buyers who purchased during that window likely saw their home's value climb 10% or more year after year. So if you bought in 2020 and decided to sell in 2023 or so, there's a good chance you walked away with a handsome profit -- enough to make a comfortable move into a second home, maybe with a bigger down payment or a lower loan balance to carry.

That kind of equity, building quickly, was common back then. 

If You Bought in 2024, 2025, or 2026

If you bought more recently, especially with a small down payment, your home's value has likely grown by less than a percentage point a year. That means the equity you've built up is coming almost entirely from your monthly principal payments, not from rising home values.

So... if you were hoping to sell in a year or two and move up like buyers did a few years ago, you'll probably need to be more patient. It's not that it's impossible. It just likely takes longer to build enough equity to make that next move work financially.

What This Means for You

If you're in this more recent group of buyers, I'd encourage you to think of your current home as a longer term stop rather than a quick stepping stone. That's not a bad thing -- it just requires a shift in expectations compared to what buyers experienced just a few years earlier.

If you're wondering what this looks like for your specific situation, whether you're trying to figure out how much equity you have in your home, or if you're wondering about the best timing for a future move, let me know.