The average price of a single-family home in the U.S. resale market exceeded $400,000 in the first quarter of 2026, despite weak demand and reduced mortgage availability, according to data from the National Association of Realtors (NAR).
According to NAR, the median price of an existing single-family home in the U.S. rose by 0.5% year-over-year to $404,300. Price increases were recorded in 71% of urban markets, or in 167 of the 235 metropolitan areas tracked. At the same time, the pace of price increases has slowed: in the fourth quarter of 2025, annual growth stood at 1.2%.
Regional trends remain mixed. In the Northeast, the median price reached $506,500, up 4.9% over the year. In the Midwest, homes cost an average of $308,100, with a 3.6% increase. In the South, prices remained virtually unchanged at $362,300, while in the West, the most expensive region, they fell by 2.9% to $607,600.
The rise in single-family home prices is occurring against a backdrop of weak buyer activity. According to NAR, existing home sales in March 2026 fell by 3.6% from the previous month, with declines recorded in all regions. NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun noted that the market remains sluggish due to declining consumer confidence and weaker job growth.
High mortgage rates remain one of the main constraints on demand. Even with slowing price growth, buying a home is becoming less affordable for many American families: monthly mortgage payments remain high, and sellers are in no hurry to lower prices due to limited supply of quality housing.
The new-home market, however, looks softer. According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the median price of a new home sold in March 2026 was $387,400, down 6.2% year-over-year. This is due to a high inventory of new homes on the market and developers’ efforts to stimulate demand.
JSC Ukrnafta and the Finnish company Wärtsilä signed a framework agreement on the supply of complete equipment for gas piston power plants during a meeting between Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo and the Ukrainian side, announced First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal.
“Together with the Finnish-Ukrainian Investment Facility (FUIF) and JSC Ukrnafta, we are implementing a phased program to deploy distributed gas piston power generation,” he wrote on Telegram.
According to Shmyhal, as part of the first phase, an EUR 80 million loan from the EBRD has already been secured, a loan agreement has been signed, a state guarantee has been confirmed, and procurement is underway in accordance with EBRD procedures.
For the subsequent phases, Ukraine plans to use FUIF funding to scale up the program, specifically by installing gas piston power plants based on Wärtsilä equipment.
The First Deputy Prime Minister added that all relevant projects are aimed at promptly strengthening the energy security of the regions, balancing Ukraine’s integrated power grid, and securing critical infrastructure.
Kyivstar, Ukraine’s largest telecommunications operator, has been granted the right to officially sell Starlink services in Ukraine to support Ukrainian businesses, according to a company statement.
The agreement allows for the official supply of Starlink high-speed internet kits and services to large corporations, medium-sized businesses, and manufacturing enterprises.
Starlink will also be available to the country’s public institutions, including schools, universities, hospitals, clinics, and other facilities.
“This enhances the resilience and efficiency of Ukrainian companies. In addition, we plan to develop joint offerings that will combine Starlink services with Kyivstar’s core telecom services, creating comprehensive solutions for businesses with high reliability and support,” Kyivstar’s Director of New Business Development, Ilya Polshakov, is quoted as saying in the release.
Customers will be able to obtain all necessary financial documents from the mobile operator as an authorized Starlink distributor in Ukraine and pay for all transactions in hryvnia.
Starlink is a global satellite network with thousands of satellites in low Earth orbit that provides broadband internet access. The service delivers high-speed internet to remote regions and locations requiring additional connectivity options.
In November 2025, Kyivstar launched free messaging using Starlink Direct to Cell (D2C) technology, which is already used by nearly 5 million customers out of a total subscriber base of 22.4 million. This year, Kyivstar plans to expand the service to other messaging apps and real-time multimedia sharing.
As of the end of 2025, Kyivstar served 22.4 million mobile subscribers and 1.2 million “Home Internet” subscribers. In 2025, the company increased its EBITDA by 30% to UAH 27 billion, with revenue growing by 30.3% to UAH 48.2 billion; including a 23.1% increase in EBITDA in the fourth quarter of last year—to UAH 7.2 billion—on the back of a 30.1% rise in revenue—to UAH 13.5 billion.
Telecom operator PJSC “Datagroup,” which has been part of the DVL group of companies (Datagroup-Volia-lifecell) since September 2024, increased its net loss by 4.3 times in 2025 compared to 2024—to UAH 66.60 million, according to the company’s annual report.
According to the report, the company’s net revenue grew by 21%—to UAH 1.98031 billion, including revenue from internet services—up 11.3%, to UAH 874.02 million, and from mobile telecommunications services—up 27.8%, to UAH 535.8 million.
Last year, Datagroup reduced its gross profit by 32.5% to UAH 366.92 million, while the loss from operating activities amounted to UAH 39.36 million, compared to an operating profit of UAH 204.18 million in 2024.
It is noted that throughout 2025, the company developed a telecommunications network using xPON technology to provide electronic and digital services to subscribers during blackouts, and also ensured power supply by installing additional equipment: batteries and generators.
According to the report, capital investments last year decreased by 28.3% to UAH 328.25 million.
As for future plans, Datagroup intends to expand its range of information security services, specifically enhanced protection against DDoS attacks, and to further improve the company’s energy and resource efficiency.
Throughout 2025, the average number of full-time employees on the payroll was 1,700, while the average number of part-time employees and those working on a part-time basis was 147 specialists.
As reported, in September 2024, NJJ Holding, led by French investor Xavier Niel, completed the acquisition of the national fixed-line internet service provider Datagroup-Volia and the third-largest mobile operator, lifecell. The assets were consolidated into the DVL group.
Forecast of unemployment rate in Ukraine according to methodology of international labor organization until 2025
In the first 4 months of 2026, more than 11,000 fires broke out in ecosystems across Ukraine, resulting in 27 deaths and 35 injuries, according to the State Emergency Service of Ukraine.
“As a result of these fires, 27 people died and another 32 were injured. At the same time, only about 350 of the total fires were caused by Russia’s aggression—all the rest were caused specifically by human negligence or the deliberate burning of dry vegetation,” the service’s Telegram channel quoted Viktor Vitovetsky, Director of the Department of Civil Protection and Preventive Activities at the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, as saying.
According to him, to prevent fires, State Emergency Service specialists carried out more than 8,000 preventive measures, of which more than a thousand involved the use of UAVs. The use of drones is a new practice for the State Emergency Service, which helps not only to identify arson of dry vegetation but also to identify those responsible.
” “The State Emergency Service continues to hold accountable those who burn grass and leaves; however, the fines are not sufficient to compensate for the damage caused. As of today, since the beginning of 2026, fines have been imposed on more than 1,600 people for a total amount of approximately 3.5 million UAH,” Vitovetsky noted.
