The Hottest U.S. Housing Markets
Here’s a look at the bustling housing markets in the U.S. per U.S. News & World Report.
According to U.S. News & World Report, given the historic settlement by the National Association of Realtors, encouraging more negotiations between buyers and sellers on the commission rates paid to real estate agents, reduced transaction costs could also translate into lower home prices.
Since any thaw in the housing market will not be equal for each region, state or city, buyers and sellers who do their research and match up with the best agents for their situations will be in the best positions to jump into the market when the timing is right.
Our analysis of the hottest housing markets pulls from the U.S. News Housing Market Index, which incorporates a wide array of data points and provides a simple yet comprehensive way to rank the covered metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) from frozen to blazing on a scale of 1-100. This particular ranking is based on data from June 2024. Some supporting data included in the discussions of the two hottest markets was obtained from original sources not yet reflected in the HMI.
Key Takeaways
- There is more variety in this analysis of the hottest housing markets, with MSAs in Texas, Missouri, Pennsylvania and Nebraska leading the list.
- Markets to watch that improved the most between December 2023 and June 2024 include Denver; Durham, North Carolina; North Port, Florida; Kansas City, Missouri; and Philadelphia.
- The most resilient markets that improved year-over-year through June were led by Baltimore; North Port; Philadelphia; New York City; and Kansas City.
Hottest Markets Overall
With Housing Market Index totals ranging up to 72.8 versus the lowest scores below 55 for MSAs in both coastal and inland California, the following MSAs are the hottest housing markets ranked from first to fifth:
- Austin, Texas – 72.8 (Tie)
- Kansas City – 72.8 (Tie)
- Philadelphia – 72
- Omaha, Nebraska – 71.9
- Houston – 71.8
With the COVID-19 pandemic mostly in the rearview mirror but remote work becoming more of a part-time agreement between white-collar employers and workers, the metrics behind what makes a housing market hot are returning to the basics of demand, supply and financial considerations. What these hottest markets seem to have in common are big-city amenities and unique cultures, without the high housing costs of MSAs closer to the West and East coasts.