Star City, West Virginia is Among the US Cities Where Home Values are Falling Fastest

In the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. home sales slumped. Since then, however, the market has come roaring back — and rising demand, in conjunction with a relatively low supply of housing, has caused home values to surge.

Between January 2020 and January 2021, the typical single-family American home appreciated in value from $246,563 to $269,039, a 9.1% increase. Of course, housing markets also respond more to local forces, and not all parts of the country followed the national pattern.

In Star City, a town of about 2,200 residents in West Virginia’s Monongalia County, home values have actually declined in recent months. The typical single family home in Star City was worth $163,726 as of January 2021, 5.6% less than what it was worth one year ago.

One factor that can contribute to falling home prices at a local level is reduced demand. And lower demand for housing is often precipitated by population decline. According to the most recent available Census data, over the last one-year period, Star City’s population decreased by 1.6%.

Nationwide, the typical home value is about 4.3 times higher than the median household income of $62,843. In Star City, housing is generally more affordable. The typical single-family home value is about 3.6 times higher than the local median household income of $45,199.

Here are the 10 communities with populations of at least 2,000 in West Virginia where home values fell the most in the last year.

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