Toledo, Ohio.Sean Pavone/Getty Images
- Realtor.com released its annual list of what they expect to be the hottest housing markets in 2024.
- Some cities in the Midwest and Northeast ranked high due to affordability alongside cities in California.
There may be some relief for home shoppers on the horizon after a frustrating few years of rising mortgage rates and sky-high housing prices. Realtor.com predicts 2024 will kick off a slow retreat in the cost for home loans and an uptick in housing affordability.
It's against this backdrop that the home-listings and real-estate-data site has ranked its picks for the hottest housing markets of 2024. These are cities among the country's 100 largest metros where Realtor.com expects the number of homes that trade hands and their prices to grow the most, with a ranking based on the highest anticipated growth combined.
"Now that we're seeing the beginning of an affordability turnaround, home buyers are still looking for markets where they can capitalize on lower prices," Danielle Hale, Realtor.com's chief economist, said. "Even in some of the more expensive markets, we'll see double-digit sales growth as sales start to rebound from their historic lows, helped by mortgage rates which are expected to finally relent."
The top 10 ranking metros comprise affordable markets in the Northeast and Midwest, like Toledo, Ohio, and Rochester, New York, alongside Southern California markets, like the Los Angeles and San Diego areas, that are expected to rebound from 2023's sluggish sales.
Realtor.com looked at changes in existing home sales and existing home median sale prices which, the report notes, impacted Southern metros in the ranking. Southern metros had a higher percentage of newly built homes on the market to date in 2023 than other areas.
Below are the forecasted 17 hottest housing markets next year. Forecasted changes below are about existing homes. The forecasted home sales and price changes are year-over-year values.
17. Syracuse, New York
Syracuse, New York Barry Winiker/Getty Images
November 2023 median home price: $243,000
Forecasted 2024 home sales change: 3.4%
Forecasted 2024 home price change: 6.4%
Forecasted 2024 combined sales and price change: 9.8%
16. Louisville/Jefferson County, Kentucky/Indiana
Lexington, Kentucky Katie Warren/Business Insider
November 2023 median home price: $300,000
Forecasted 2024 home sales change: 9.1%
Forecasted 2024 home price change: 1.2%
Forecasted 2024 combined sales and price change: 10.3%
15. Harrisburg-Carlisle, Pennsylvania
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Paul Weaver/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
November 2023 median home price: $298,000
Forecasted 2024 home sales change: 5.6%
Forecasted 2024 home price change: 5.1%
Forecasted 2024 combined sales and price change: 10.6%
14. El Paso, Texas
El Paso, Texas John Coletti/Getty Images
November 2023 median home price: $294,000
Forecasted 2024 home sales change: 6.3%
Forecasted 2024 home price change: 4.6%
Forecasted 2024 combined sales and price change: 10.9%
13. Scranton-Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
Scranton, Pennsylvania Denis Tangney Jr/Getty Images
November 2023 median home price: $237,000
Forecasted 2024 home sales change: 5.5%
Forecasted 2024 home price change: 6.3%
Forecasted 2024 combined sales and price change: 11.8%
12. Buffalo-Cheektowaga, New York
Buffalo, New York Atomazul/Shutterstock
November 2023 median home price: $250,000
Forecasted 2024 home sales change: 8.3%
Forecasted 2024 home price change: 3.9%
Forecasted 2024 combined sales and price change: 12.1%
11. Hartford-East Hartford-Middletown, Connecticut
Hartford, Connecticut Sean Pavone/Shutterstock
November 2023 median home price: $398,000
Forecasted 2024 home sales change: 3.1%
Forecasted 2024 home price change: 9.1%
Forecasted 2024 combined sales and price change: 12.2%
10. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, California
Los Angeles, California Neal Pritchard Photography/Getty Images
November 2023 median home price: $1.15 million
Forecasted 2024 home sales change: 9.2%
Forecasted 2024 home price change: 3.5%
Forecasted 2024 combined sales and price change: 12.7%
9. Grand Rapids-Kentwood, Michigan
Grand Rapids, Michigan Shutterstock/Suzanne Tucker
November 2023 median home price: $390,000
Forecasted 2024 home sales change: 6.1%
Forecasted 2024 home price change: 7.2%
Forecasted 2024 combined sales and price change: 13.3%
8. Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester, Massachusetts Getty Images
November 2023 median home price: $475,000
Forecasted 2024 home sales change: 9.1%
Forecasted 2024 home price change: 4.8%
Forecasted 2024 combined sales and price change: 13.9%
7. Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield, Massachusetts Barry Winiker/Getty Images
November 2023 median home price: $350,000
Forecasted 2024 home sales change: 10.5%
Forecasted 2024 home price change: 4.2%
Forecasted 2024 combined sales and price change: 14.7%
6. Bakersfield, California
Bakersfield, California MattGush/Getty Images
November 2023 median home price: $385,000
Forecasted 2024 home sales change: 13.4%
Forecasted 2024 home price change: 2.3%
Forecasted 2024 combined sales and price change: 15.7%
5. Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, California
Riverside, California Jon Bilous/Shutterstock
November 2023 median home price: $585,000
Forecasted 2024 home sales change: 13.8%
Forecasted 2024 home price change: 2%
Forecasted 2024 combined sales and price change: 15.8%
4. San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, California
San Diego, California Ron and Patty Thomas/Getty Images
November 2023 median home price: $995,000
Forecasted 2024 home sales change: 11%
Forecasted 2024 home price change: 5.4%
Forecasted 2024 combined sales and price change: 16.3%
3. Rochester, New York
Rochester, New York StanRohrer/Getty Images
November 2023 median home price: $239,000
Forecasted 2024 home sales change: 6.2%
Forecasted 2024 home price change: 10.4%
Forecasted 2024 combined sales and price change: 16.6%
2. Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, California
Oxnard, California Photography by Alexandra Rudge/Getty Images
November 2023 median home price: $1.04 million
Forecasted 2024 home sales change: 18%
Forecasted 2024 home price change: 3.3%
Forecasted 2024 combined sales and price change: 21.3%
1. Toledo, Ohio
Toledo, Ohio Mike Kline (notkalvin)/Getty Images
November 2023 median home price: $200,000
Forecasted 2024 home sales change: 14%
Forecasted 2024 home price change: 8.3%
Forecasted 2024 combined sales and price change: 22.3%