Alaska Housing Market: Home Prices, Rent and Affordability
The typical Alaska home is worth $398,663, up 5.7% over the past year and up 17.6% over five years, 8.1% above the national $368,697 (latest release). That ranks #22 of 50 on price. A 20%-down mortgage runs $2,051 a month and takes about $111,424 of income; the median Alaska household earns $95,665, $15,759 short.
In Anchorage, the state's largest metro, typical rent is $1,860 a month against a $2,190 principal-and-interest payment on the typical home, so renting is $330 a month cheaper before taxes, insurance and maintenance. The market is cool: 27.0% of listings cut their price (national 26.4%), homes go pending in 31 days (national 53), and for-sale inventory is up 7.2% from a year ago.
All housing figures are the latest published numbers for August; median household income is from the Census Bureau.
Alaska Housing by the Numbers
How much does a house cost in Alaska? The typical home is worth $398,663, the median sale price is $437,967 and the median list price $429,667. The six figures below describe the market this month, each with the national comparison.
- Typical home
- $398,663
- #22 priciest · national $369K
- Mortgage payment
- $2,051/mo
- P&I, 20% down · national $1,897
- Income needed
- $111K
- median earns $96K (+17%)
- Rent, Anchorage
- $1,860/mo
- +4.2% in 1 yr · national $1,948
- Price cuts
- 27.0%
- of listings · national 26.4%
- Days to pending
- 31
- national 53 · 2,797 for sale (+7.2%)
How Have Alaska Home Prices Changed?
The typical Alaska home value every month since 2000, with the national typical home as a dashed line. Values rose 5.7% over the past year, are up 17.6% over five years, up 40.8% over ten, and up 191% since January 2000.
- Peak
- $398,663
- This month (all-time high)
- 10-year change
- +40.8%
- national +77.9%
- Median sale price
- $437,967
- list price $429,667
- Payment, 1-yr change
- +6.6%
- Rates and prices combined
Is It Cheaper to Rent or Buy in Alaska?
Two direct answers from the data. Rent versus buy sets typical asking rent in Anchorage, the state's largest metro, against the mortgage payment on the typical home there, since rent indexes are published by metro rather than by state. The affordability gap is the income needed to buy the typical Alaska home minus what the median household actually earns.
Rent vs. buy · Anchorage, AK
Renting is $330/month cheaper
The payment excludes property tax (1.16% of value in Alaska), insurance and maintenance, all of which push the cost of owning higher; renting builds no equity. If values kept rising at the past five years' pace (17.6%), equity would narrow that gap over a long stay.
Affordability gap · #24 of 50
The median household is $15,759 short of the income needed
A $2,051 monthly payment takes 25.7% of the median Alaska household's income before property tax and insurance; lenders generally cap total housing costs near 28–31%.
Full budget for your household →Is Alaska a Buyer's or a Seller's Market?
Market temperature is our label from three market signals compared with the national market: the share of listings with a price cut, days from listing to pending (days on market), and whether homes for sale are up from a year ago. Alaska is cool: it leans toward buyers: two of the three market signals point cooler than the national market.
Median sale price $437,967 against a median list price of $429,667, so the typical home closes at or above asking.
Where the Alaska market is heading
Compared with a year ago, two of the three signals point looser, in buyers' favor: the share of listings with a price cut is up 1.9 points from a year ago to 27.0%, homes take 1 day less to go pending than a year ago (31 now), and the number of homes for sale is up 7.2%. The typical home value rose 5.7% over the same period and is at an all-time high. We publish no forecasts: these are the current-month readings, not a prediction of where Alaska home prices go next.
Home Values and Rents in Alaska Cities
A city-level home value or rent is available for 9 of the Alaska cities we track. The most expensive is Sitka city and ($486,534) and the cheapest Fairbanks ($305,391). Click a city for its full profile.
| City | Population | Home value | 1 yr | 5 yr | Rent | Rent 1 yr | Value ÷ income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anchorage | 288,976 | $422,785 | +5.3% | ||||
| Fairbanks | 32,083 | $305,391 | +4.3% | ||||
| Juneau city and | 31,794 | $476,877 | +4.8% | ||||
| Wasilla | 9,720 | $425,040 | +7.1% | ||||
| Sitka city and | 8,368 | $486,534 | -8.0% | ||||
| Ketchikan | 8,078 | $405,952 | +5.9% | ||||
| Kenai | 7,641 | $331,313 | +6.2% | ||||
| Sterling | 6,323 | $365,688 | +6.7% | ||||
| Palmer | 6,268 | $440,227 | +9.3% |
Home value and rent are city-level indexes; population and median household income are Census ACS. Cities without a published index are omitted.
All Alaska cities ranked →How Alaska Compares With Nearby States
The West states closest to Alaska on price. Each card links to that state's housing page; the compare link puts the two states side by side on every category.
More on Alaska
Alaska dashboard
Overall rank and grade, every category score, taxes, utilities, safety, schools and all tracked cities.
What you'd keep in Alaska
Take-home after housing, taxes, childcare, utilities and groceries for your household and income.
Who is moving to Alaska
IRS migration data: where new residents come from, where leavers go, and what both groups earn.
Alaska Housing Market FAQ
What is the average house price in Alaska?
$398,663 is the typical Alaska home value according to the latest release of the home value index, which tracks homes in the middle third of the market. The median sale price was $437,967 and the median list price $429,667. That makes Alaska the #22 most expensive state; the national typical home is worth $368,697.
Are home prices dropping in Alaska?
No. The typical Alaska home value rose 5.7% over the past year and is at an all-time high. Over five years it is up 17.6% and over ten years up 40.8%. Nationally, values rose 1.2% over the year.
How have Alaska home prices changed over the past 1, 5 and 10 years?
+5.7% over one year, +17.6% over five years and +40.8% over ten years for the typical Alaska home value, per the latest release; the national figures are +1.2%, +20.3% and +77.9%. Since January 2000 the typical Alaska home is up 191%. The monthly chart above shows the full series against the national line.
Will the Alaska housing market crash?
We publish no forecasts, so this page cannot answer that; it can show the current readings and the historical worst case. Right now the typical Alaska home value is at an all-time high after it rose 5.7% over the past year; 27.0% of listings have cut their price (national 26.4%), homes go pending in 31 days (national 53), and inventory is up 7.2% from a year ago, per Zillow Research. The largest decline in the monthly value series for Alaska was 1.9% from September 2010 to November 2011, and values took 7 months to regain that peak.
Is it a good time to buy a house in Alaska?
The Alaska market is cool right now, which means it leans toward buyers: two of the three market signals point cooler than the national market. 27.0% of listings cut their price (national 26.4%), homes go pending in 31 days (national 53), and for-sale inventory is up 7.2% from a year ago. Affordability is the constraint: buying the typical home takes $111,424 of income, $15,759 more than the median household earns. Whether the timing is right also depends on mortgage rates and how long you plan to stay.
Is Alaska a buyer's or seller's market?
Alaska leans toward buyers. More listings are cutting prices than the national average (27.0% vs. 26.4%), homes take 31 days to go pending (national 53), and the number of homes for sale is up 7.2% from a year ago at 3K listings. Two of those three signals point toward buyers.
What is the average rent in Alaska?
In Anchorage, Alaska's largest metro, the typical asking rent is $1,860 a month, up 4.2% over the past year and up 31.6% over five years, per the rent index. The national typical rent is $1,948. Among Alaska cities we track, rents range from $1,562 to $2,492 a month.
Is it cheaper to rent or buy in Alaska?
Renting is cheaper month to month in Anchorage, Alaska's largest metro. Typical rent is $1,860 and the principal-and-interest payment on the typical home with 20% down is $2,190, a difference of $330 a month in favor of renting. The payment excludes property tax (1.16% of value in Alaska), insurance and maintenance, and renting builds no equity, so the full answer depends on how long you stay.
How much income do you need to buy a house in Alaska?
About $111,424 a year, using the standard assumptions of 20% down at current mortgage rates and a payment of no more than 30% of income. The median Alaska household earns $95,665, so the typical household is $15,759 short. That is the #24 smallest affordability gap of the 50 states. The monthly payment of $2,051 equals 25.7% of the median household's income.
Where are homes cheapest and most expensive in Alaska?
Among the Alaska cities we track with a published home value, the most expensive typical home is in Sitka city and ($486,534) and the cheapest in Fairbanks ($305,391). Also at the top: Juneau city and ($476,877), Palmer ($440,227), and Wasilla ($425,040). The city table above lists every tracked Alaska city with its value, one-year change and rent.
How does Alaska compare with nearby states?
In the West, the closest comparisons on price are Arizona ($417,990, down 1.1% in a year), Wyoming ($371,854, up 1.4% in a year), and Nevada ($442,027, down 1.8% in a year). Alaska's typical home is $398,663, up 5.7%. On affordability, Alaska ranks #24 of 50 versus Arizona at #33, Wyoming at #31, and Nevada at #35.
How current is the Alaska housing data?
Every figure on this page comes from Zillow Research, which publishes state, metro and city data free each month for the prior month; the latest month shown is August. Median household income is from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey. We rebuild the page from the newest Zillow files as they are released.
Home values, rents, mortgage payments, income needed, inventory, price cuts, days to pending and sale and list prices are published by Zillow Research and shown as released, with attribution. Median household income and city populations are from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey. Home prices and housing markets in all 50 states →