Where to Buy: Top 20 U.S. Cities with the Best Housing Market for Growth and Stability in Real Estate

You probably already know that the real estate market is tough, even if you aren’t looking for a home right now or aren’t paying any attention to it at all. Among other things, mortgage rates are rising, home prices are still rising, and the housing supply is limited. As a result, potential homebuyers are paying more attention to where they decide to settle down than ever before. Naturally, they want their investment to pay off.

Financial technology company SmartAsset just put out their 2023 Best Housing Markets for Growth and Security study, and it gives supportive data to those genuinely hoping to purchase soon, or regardless of whether you’re simply thinking about the possibility. The Federal Housing Administration’s data on home values for 400 metropolitan areas between 1998 and 2022 were compared by Smart Asset. The team compared the data based on two metrics: overall price growth and stability. “The incidence of homeowners experiencing a significant price decline (5% or more) at any point in the 10 years after they purchased a home” is what we mean when we talk about stability. Additionally, “the total growth in home prices during the time period we analyzed” refers to overall home price growth.

They were able to compile a list of the top 20 housing markets for growth and sustainability after taking into account all of that data, which you can see below. The list was dominated by cities in Texas, including the number one city, Austin; however, many cities in the West also performed well, including Boulder and Fort Collins in Colorado; Washington’s Kennewick-Richland area; Montana’s Billings; and Wyoming’s Cheyenne made the top 20. Between 1998 and 2022, the study by SmartAsset found that home prices increased on average by 154.46 percent.

According to SmartAsset, these are the 20 best housing markets for growth and stability

1. Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown, Texas
2. Midland, Texas
3. Boulder, Colorado
4. Fort Collins, Colorado
5. Kennewick-Richland, Washington
6. Rapid City, South Dakota
7. Odessa, Texas
8. Dallas-Plano-Irving, Texas
9. San Antonio-New Braunfels, Texas
10. Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, Texas
11. Billings, Montana
12. Bismarck, North Dakota
13. Waco, Texas
14. Fort Worth-Arlington-Grapevine, Texas
15. San Angelo, Texas
16. Cheyenne, Wyoming
17. Burlington-South Burlington, Vermont
18. College Station-Bryan, Texas
19. Sherman-Denison, Texas
20. Abilene, Texas

Thankfully, no West Coast cities made the list of the worst housing markets for growth and stability. Be that as it may, cities in Michigan and Ohio ranked poorly, with 13 out of 20 worst housing markets being in those states.