Homebuyers are departing larger metros for satellite cities in search of affordability — but as demand increases, so do the home prices that attracted them.
It's a theme of listings site Realtor.com's new ranking of cities where home prices have climbed the most over the past year. Take Trenton, New Jersey, a 30-minute train ride from Philadelphia, and Fort Wayne, Indiana, a two-hour drive from Indianapolis, which both had price-per-square-foot increases of more than 12% over the year.
Evan Wyloge, a data journalist with Realtor.com, suspects these satellite cities are bringing in new residents as culture around office work changes.
"That big shift, in terms of workers having these new options, has had a big impact on what we're seeing here," he told Insider. "People are finding ways to move around and be more mobile in terms of where they choose to live. A place like Manchester, New Hampshire," which ranks fifth in terms of price growth, "has been reaping the benefits of that for several years."
To calculate the list, Realtor.com looked at the change in the median list price per square foot for the 50 largest metros, comparing data for August 2023 and August 2022. It also included only one metro per state to ensure geographic diversity.
Almost all of the cities on the list have a population of less than 300,000 and are all less than 140 miles from one of the top 50 metros in the country, as defined by the US Census Bureau. Boston is an exception, with a population exceeding 600,000 people. Wyloge said demand is still growing in Boston, and people are taking advantage by selling high and using those profits to buy more expensive homes, keeping it in the ranking.
Here are the 10 cities where home prices increased the most between August 2022 and August 2023, according to Realtor.com. And don't forget to peek at the list of cities where home prices are falling the most, too.