Cotality’s April 2026 home price insights report landed this week with numbers that demand attention. Annual home price appreciation nationally has slowed to just 0.5% — effectively a standstill. 13 states are now recording negative year-over-year appreciation. Cape Coral, Florida dropped 9.6%. North Port, Florida is down 6.1%. Austin and Houston are both in negative territory.
Meanwhile, Kansas City is up 8.6%. Cleveland is up 5.9%. Milwaukee is up 5.6%.
And in the category no agent has ever been able to use before: San Francisco, San Jose, and Los Angeles have officially slipped into undervalued territory for the first time in years.
This is not a national market story anymore. This is a tale of multiple completely different markets happening simultaneously — and the agents who understand their local reality will dramatically outperform the agents relying on national headlines.
If You’re a Sun Belt Agent: The Underwater Seller Conversation
In markets where prices have fallen 6 to 10% year over year, agents are facing a conversation that didn’t exist two years ago: the seller who bought at or near the 2022 peak, has seen their value decline, and is now staring at a net proceeds number that may not cover their remaining mortgage plus closing costs.
This is one of the most difficult conversations in real estate right now. And most agents are not having it proactively — which means their clients are getting blindsided at the point of listing when a CMA comes in lower than expected.
The agents who are handling this well are having the conversation before the listing appointment, not during it. They’re calling affected past clients and sphere contacts with a specific framework:
“”I wanted to reach out before we talk about listing because I want to be straight with you about what the market is doing in [neighborhood]. Values have pulled back from where they were at the peak, and I’d rather show you the real numbers now than have you be surprised when you’re already emotionally committed to a move. Do you have 15 minutes to walk through where things actually stand?””
That conversation, while uncomfortable, builds trust. The seller who gets that call respects you. The seller who gets blindsided at the listing appointment may walk away and blame you for the market.
If You’re a Midwest Agent: The Undervalued Opportunity Story
The flip side of this data is one of the most compelling buyer narratives that agents in growing Midwest metros have ever been able to tell. Markets like Kansas City, Cleveland, and Milwaukee are appreciating at 5 to 9% — while still being significantly more affordable than coastal markets.
For buyers considering a move from high-cost markets, this is a generational opportunity framing that actually holds up. Appreciation is real. Affordability is real. The story writes itself — if you’re telling it.
The California Contrarian Angle
The most surprising and potentially most actionable data point in this report is the undervalued status of Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Jose. These are markets that have been overvalued for so long that saying “”it’s actually a good time to buy in LA”” has been effectively impossible for years.
That moment has arrived. For California agents who have been telling buyers to wait for a pullback — the pullback is here. The agents who move first with this narrative will capture the buyers who have been sitting on the sidelines waiting for exactly this signal.
The Common Thread: Local Data Beats National Headlines
Every one of these market realities requires the same foundation: you have to know your specific market cold. National appreciation at 0.5% tells your clients nothing useful. Your ZIP code’s list-to-sale ratio, days on market trend, and year-over-year price movement tells them everything.
PULSEIntel PRO’s My Market feature gives you exactly this — a live dashboard of your specific territory with the hyperlocal stats and AI-generated talking points you need for every client conversation this week.
