- Omaha named by U.S. News as "hottest" housing market.
- Home prices in Omaha rose by 8% in 2025, with a median price of $281,000.
- Meagan Norwood expresses concern over homeownership due to high costs.
- The dream of owning a home feels increasingly unattainable for many.
Omaha named "hottest" housing market by U.S. News. Despite this, first-time buyers say the dream of owning a home feels increasingly unattainable.
Meagan Norwood and her husband live in an apartment downtown. She said owning a home is a long time goal, and right now it seems out of reach. Why? Home prices in Omaha are up 8% in 2025, and the median price for a home is 281-thousand dollars.
"You have to have about 30% of house, you know, what the house costs, and that's the bare minimum and last I checked, there's no way I can have about, you know, 50 to 100 grand just sitting aside waiting for me. There's no way," said Norwood.
U.S. News reports, Omaha has the hottest housing market in the country right now. In January and February, about 1,000 homes were sold. And according to Zillow, buyers are spending over 120 grand more than just a decade ago.
KMTV asked Metro Omaha Builder Association President David Tewes, what steps need to be taken to lower costs.
"We struggle with that question to try and attack that in different ways, maybe building different products, maybe zoning land differently, you know. Those are a few of the easy one," said Tewes.
MOBA is hosting their spring home parade, show casing 62 homes from 280k to 2 million dollars this weekend.
Norwood said the cost of owning a home isn't the only problem, her landlord just raised her rent... she says she's paying nearly 30 percent more than just 7 months ago. She's not the only one. According to Zumper rent for single-bedroom apartments is up 14%.
"The whole thing is we're supposed to be able to rent up to a certain point in life to be able to afford to live somewhere safe to raise a family, to have a life," said Norwood.
Tewes told KMTV first time buyers should save as much money as possible for a down payment, he also said buying a previously lived in home is a good option for buyers looking to save money.
