How to find the current market value of my home

My home

Checking to see if you have added your home...

How to find the current market value of my home

Real-time home value reports

Stay on top of your home value and the latest real estate trends with our

RealEstimate℠ data. Access this info 24/7 in the My Home dashboard. We'll also send you a monthly home value report.

Keep your property details up-to-date

Make sure any renovations done to your home are accurate and up-to-date on Realtor.com. Update your home's details and remove photos in My Home.

Compare your homes to others in the area

Find out how your home measures up with homes that are for sale or recently sold. Compare market value, listing price, features and size in My Home.

Explore ways to sell

Determine the cost of selling your home with our Net Proceeds calculator. Looking for a local real estate agent or thinking about selling your home for cash? Our partners on Seller's Marketplace can help.

Explore Offmarket Listings

Establishing the right asking price is critical to the home selling process. Enter an address above and see the Automated Valuation Model (AVM) estimates for your home. Keep in mind that this is only a starting point as estimates vary greatly across national AVMs.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is an AVM?

An AVM is a computer-generated algorithm that uses historic, public sales data and trends to estimate a home's value.

Are AVMs Accurate?

Typically, national AVMs are not a good representation of a home's actual value and have a large margin of error. The values generated by AVMs are based on automated computer modeling from public records and may not represent the true value of the home as they cannot take into account the nuances of our local market.

How Do I Get a More Accurate Estimate?

For the most accurate estimate, contact us to request a Comparable Market Analysis (CMA). This report is personally prepared to give you a clear understanding of competing properties, market trends, and recent sales in your area.

What is a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA)?

A CMA is a free report prepared personally by one of our agents that compares your home to similar properties in your neighborhood that are currently for sale or have recently been sold. By taking into account certain aspects of a home that may affect its value and marketability, including market conditions, location, and the home's amenities and overall condition, our agents are able to better assist you in determining the value of your home.

Wonder what your house — or a house you might buy — is really worth?

The short answer’s easy: A house is worth whatever someone will pay for it. The long answer depends on the market and whether you’re asking a lender, an agent or a county tax assessor. But why take their word for it?

Knowing how to calculate your home’s value with the help of online tools and trained professionals better prepares you to buy, sell, refinance, tap into your home’s equity or even negotiate lower property taxes.

It can also provide a picture of your overall financial health. Nearly three-quarters (73%) of Americans say knowing the value of their home is important for precisely this reason, according to a NerdWallet survey conducted online by The Harris Poll in August 2018.

Discover five different ways to determine the value of your home below.

Looking for a mortgage? Get the best rates when lenders compete for your business

Answer a few questions and get personalized rate quotes from NerdWallet's top lenders in minutes.

ZIP code 

How to find the value of a home

1. Use online valuation tools

Searching “how much is my house worth?” online reveals dozens of home value estimators. In fact, 22% of U.S. homeowners who determined their home’s value used an online estimator, according to the survey. The technical term for these tools is automated valuation model, or AVM, and they’re typically offered by lenders or real estate sites like Zillow and Redfin.

Using public records like property transfers, deeds of ownership and tax assessments along with some mathematical modeling, these tools try to predict your home’s value based on recent sales and listing prices in the area.

“Most AVMs on real estate sites are generally for marketing and lead generation purposes,” says David Rasmussen, senior vice president of operations at Veros Real Estate Solutions. “They’re tasked with returning a value for just about every property even when data is limited. And in doing so, they water down the accuracy.”

The AVMs used by lenders and real estate professionals are different. These tools use a “confidence score” to indicate how close the AVM provider thinks an estimate is to market value. A confidence score of 90% means the estimate is within 10% of market value, for example, though each AVM has its own way of calculating confidence.

Professional-grade AVMs with confidence scores linked to accuracy are a step up from the real estate sites, Rasmussen says. But you should always talk to a local real estate expert to get more insight into any online valuation.

2. Get a comparative market analysis

When you’re ready to dive deeper into your home value, you can ask a local real estate agent for a comparative market analysis, or CMA.

Though not as detailed as a professional appraisal, a CMA provides an agent’s evaluation of the home and market to provide an estimate of value, typically for listing purposes.

Local real estate agents may provide a CMA for little or no cost, but be aware: They may do so with hopes of being hired as your selling agent.

3. Use the FHFA House Price Index Calculator

If you’re wary of AVMs but still want a quick estimate of what your home is worth, the Federal Housing Financing Agency’s house price index (HPI) calculator applies a more scientific approach.

The tool uses the “repeat sales method,” says FHFA senior economist Will Doerner. Armed with millions of mortgage transactions gathered since the 1970s, the FHFA tracks a house’s change in value from one sale to the next. Then it uses this information to estimate how values fluctuate in a given market.

The HPI calculator is an easy way to see how much your house may have appreciated over time.

Will Doerner, FHFA Senior Economist

Sounds great, right? Well, keep in mind the HPI calculator looks at conforming home mortgages (loans less than $647,200 and up to $970,800 in high-cost areas) and isn’t adjusted seasonally or for inflation.

Still, “if you have a conventional, conforming loan, the HPI calculator is an easy way to see how much your house may have appreciated over time,” Doerner says.

4. Hire a professional appraiser

Lenders require a home appraisal before they’ll approve a mortgage, but as a property owner, you can hire an appraiser to estimate home value at any time. More than one-fourth (28%) of U.S. homeowners determined their home’s value through an appraisal, according to the survey.

“As an appraiser, my job is to give a value based on the needs of my clients,” says Ryan Lundquist, owner of an appraisal company based in Carmichael, California. “Sometimes clients want the value for a date in the past, and other times it’s a current market value for a refinance or purchase.”

Among other things, appraisers evaluate:

  • Market: The region, city and neighborhood in which a home is located.

  • Property: Characteristics of the house, including improvements and the land it sits on.

  • Comparable properties: Sales, listings, vacancies, cost, depreciation and other factors for similar houses in the same market.

This information is combined to create a final opinion of value for the home and delivered in an official report.

Getting ready to buy a home? We’ll find you a highly rated lender in just a few minutes.

Enter your ZIP code to get started on a personalized lender match.

ZIP code 

5. Evaluate comparable properties

One thing appraisals and AVMs have in common is their reliance on the recent sale value of comparable properties, often called “comps.” Well over half (56%) of U.S. homeowners estimated their home’s value by looking at comparable properties. On its face, this approach seems simplest.

Pulling comps is one way to determine market value without paying an appraiser, but use good judgment. “Just because the property next door sold doesn’t mean it’s a comp,” Lundquist says.

To choose accurate comps, you must employ an “apples to apples” approach, Lundquist says. Think about which properties would interest a buyer if yours weren't available. Look for similar size, location, condition and upgrades.

To get started:

  • Browse a site where MLS listings are displayed, to find the recent sale prices of comparable houses in your neighborhood.

  • If there aren’t enough recent sales, look at listing prices, but remember they might not be realistic.

  • You’ll need at least three valid comps to come up with a likely range of market value for your house.

Once you’ve chosen comparable properties, things get a little tricky. You’ll need to adjust for differences between your house and the comps, such as adding value to the comp price if it has more bedrooms than your house or subtracting value if its interior is outdated, for example. How much you add or subtract depends on conditions in your market, which can vary widely. After adjusting values, look at your highest and lowest comps. A rough estimate of your home value is somewhere in the middle.

Why home value is important

Knowing your home’s value allows you to evaluate what you can afford, determine whether a listing is priced appropriately and decide how to price your own home, says Gayle Weiswasser, senior vice president of marketing and communications at Homesnap, an app that offers home value estimates.

And the benefits of finding a home’s value don’t end with a purchase or sale: Refinances, home equity lines of credit, insurance premiums and annual property taxes are all based on home value.

Determining your home’s value means greater control over these processes. Property taxes are almost always open to appeal, for example. If you can prove an assessment is too high by pulling comps, you may be rewarded with a lower tax bill.

Additional reporting by Elizabeth Renter.

Looking for a mortgage? Get the best rates when lenders compete for your business

Answer a few questions and get personalized rate quotes from NerdWallet's top lenders in minutes.

ZIP code 

The survey referenced was conducted online within the United States by The Harris Poll on behalf of NerdWallet from August 29-31, 2018, among 1,446 U.S. adults ages 18 and older who are homeowners. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. For complete survey methodology, including weighting variables and subgroup sample sizes, please contact Maitri Jani at [email protected]

How do you determine current market value of home?

Here are four ways to find it:.
Go to a site like Zillow or Trulia. One quick way to find the fair market value of a home is to check online real estate sites. ... .
Contact a local realtor to run a comparable market analysis (CMA). ... .
Get an appraisal. ... .
Check the taxes..

How accurate is Zillow Zestimate?

For most major markets, the Zestimate for on-market homes is within 10% of the final sale price more than 95% of the time. The nationwide median error rate for the Zestimate for on-market homes is 1.9%, while the Zestimate for off-market homes has a median error rate of 6.9%.