There’s no national housing market. Costs vary widely — not only from state to state, but also from neighborhood to neighborhood within cities. But one trend holds true no matter where you are in the nation: Home prices have risen dramatically in the last five years.

The median existing home — a category that includes any apartment, condo, townhome, or single-family house not purchased new from a builder — sold for $415,200 in October. That’s up from $271,100 five years ago. The rapid rise in costs has had dramatic implications for the country: It has encouraged aspiring first-time homeowners to keep renting for longer, made it harder for families in starter homes to afford to move, and for empty nesters to downsize.

Read More at Yahoo! Finance.