Best Real Estate Markets (2026)

Whether you’re joining the real-estate business or just looking for a place to call home, it’s important to get a handle on the housing markets you’re considering before investing in a property. This year, the housing market has been more balanced, with mortgage rates remaining relatively stable compared to last year and home values having risen modestly by 0.3% on average.

If you aim for long-term growth, equity and profit with your housing purchase, you’ll need to look beyond tangible factors like square footage and style. Those factors certainly drive up property values. From an investor’s standpoint, though, they hold less significance than historical market trends and the economic health of residents.

To determine the best local real-estate markets in the U.S., WalletHub compared 300 cities of varying sizes across 17 key indicators of housing-market attractiveness and economic strength. Our data set ranges from median home-price appreciation to job growth.

“Current home prices are extremely important, but there’s much more that you need to look at when determining the health of a city’s real estate market. Factors like the cost of living, the potential for the value of homes to increase, the availability of recently-built homes and the quality of the city’s job market are all important to consider in conjunction with asking prices and interest rates. The best cities may not always be the cheapest, but they offer excellent housing options and long-term stability.”

Chip Lupo, WalletHub Analyst

Main Findings

Best Real Estate Markets

Share of Seriously Underwater Mortgages

Lowest

• T-1. San Jose, CA
• T-1. Sunnyvale, CA
• T-1. Santa Clara, CA
• T-4. Anaheim, CA
• T-4. Santa Ana, CA

Highest

• T-294. Toledo, OH
• T-294. St. Louis, MO
• T-294. Columbus, GA
• T-294. Shreveport, LA
• T-294. Baton Rouge, LA

Best City vs. Worst City: 23x Difference

San Jose, CA vs. Baton Rouge, LA

Median Days on the Market

Lowest

• 1. Manchester, NH
• 2. Lynn, MA
• 3. Rochester, NY
• 4. Lowell, MA
• 5. Brockton, MA

Highest

• 292. Baton Rouge, LA
• 293. Cape Coral, FL
• 294. New Orleans, LA
• 295. Lancaster, CA
• 296. Miami Beach, FL

Best City vs. Worst City: 4x Difference

Manchester, NH vs. Miami Beach, FL

Median Home-Price Appreciation

Highest

• 1. Boise, ID
• 2. Miami Gardens, FL
• 3. Palm Bay, FL
• 4. North Las Vegas, NV
• 5. Hialeah, FL

Lowest

• 296. Springfield, IL
• 297. Anchorage, AK
• 298. Jackson, MS
• 299. Peoria, IL
• 300. Stamford, CT

Best City vs. Worst City: 6x Difference

Boise, ID vs. Stamford, CT

Foreclosure Rate

Lowest

• 1. Ann Arbor, MI
• 2. Cary, NC
• 3. Sunnyvale, CA
• 4. New York, NY
• 5. Madison, WI

Highest

• 278. Cleveland, OH
• T-279. Bridgeport, CT
• T-279. Victorville, CA
• T-279. Palm Bay, FL
• T-279. North Las Vegas, NV

Best City vs. Worst City: 74x Difference

Ann Arbor, MI vs. North Las Vegas, NV

Mortgage Delinquency Rate

Lowest

• 1. Sunnyvale, CA
• 2. Cambridge, MA
• 3. Santa Clara, CA
• 4. Boston, MA
• 5. Santa Barbara, CA

Highest

• T-284. Laredo, TX
• T-284. Portsmouth, VA
• T-284. Palm Bay, FL
• T-284. Victorville, CA
• T-284. Joliet, IL

Best City vs. Worst City: 27x Difference

Sunnyvale, CA vs. Joliet, IL

Home Price as % of Income

Lowest

• 1. Flint, MI
• 2. Detroit, MI
• 3. Dayton, OH
• 4. Toledo, OH
• 5. Rockford, IL

Highest

• 296. Boulder, CO
• T-297. Glendale, CA
• T-297. Berkeley, CA
• T-297. Santa Barbara, CA
• T-297. Santa Monica, CA

Best City vs. Worst City: 13x Difference

Flint, MI vs. Santa Monica, CA

Maintenance Costs as % of Income

Lowest

• 1. Sunnyvale, CA
• 2. Santa Clara, CA
• 3. Bellevue, WA
• 4. Naperville, IL
• 5. Cary, NC

Highest

• 296. Birmingham, AL
• 297. Hartford, CT
• 298. Dayton, OH
• 299. Detroit, MI
• 300. Flint, MI

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Ranking by City Size

In-Depth Look at the Best Real Estate Markets

McKinney, TX

McKinney, TX, has the best real estate market in the U.S., in large part because of its recent growth. McKinney has the second-highest share of houses that were built between 2010 and 2023, at roughly 38%, which means that new buyers have a lot of options for houses that may not need major maintenance for a while. There are also plenty more new housing options coming, as McKinney has the third-highest number of building permits per capita.

While McKinney isn’t necessarily the cheapest city to move to, it’s also far from the most expensive. The median home price in McKinney is around 365% of the median income, which is the 74th-cheapest out of the 300 cities in our study. In addition, it ranks among the 40 least expensive cities for maintenance and telephone, and energy costs.

To top things off, McKinney has a good job market to go along with its healthy real estate market. It has the 11th-highest job growth rate in the nation, at nearly 21% annually.

Cary, NC

Cary, NC, has the second-best real estate market, in large part due to its low cost of living. The city has the fourth-lowest home energy costs in the country, along with the fifth-lowest phone service costs and home maintenance costs.

It can be a bit pricey to buy a house to begin with, as Cary ranks 96th for housing affordability – but that’s still in the cheapest third of the 300 cities in our study. In addition, once people buy a house in Cary, the value is forecasted to rise by 0.1% per year. Although this may not seem much, it’s the 45th-highest increase among the 300 cities in our sample.

Cary residents also seem to be able to keep up with their housing costs well. The city has the 29th-lowest mortgage delinquency rate and the second-lowest foreclosure rate. The fact that Cary has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country and one of the best job growth rates also helps residents make their payments on time.

Irvine, CA

Irvine, CA, has the third-best real estate market, with the third-highest share of houses that were built between 2010 and 2023, at nearly 32%. That’s good news for people who want all the benefits of a recently-constructed home, like not having to put in a lot of work immediately.

In addition, Irvine is the 11th-cheapest city for phone service and the 20th-cheapest for maintenance and energy. It also has the 15th-lowest mortgage delinquency rate and the 16th-highest median credit score, an affirmation of the residents’ financial responsibility and ability to meet payment deadlines.

Finally, Irvine has one of the best job growth rates in the country, which helps attract new residents to its growing housing market.

Ask the Experts

Economic indicators point to a strong housing market, but does that mean it’s a good time to buy a home? We consulted a panel of experts for their insight. Click on the panelists’ profiles below to read their bios and thoughts on the following key questions:

1. Is now a good time to buy a home? What economic indicators should potential buyers be watching?
2. How has inflation affected housing prices and the home-buying process? What changes should we expect on the housing market during the upcoming months?
3. How likely is it that the Federal Reserve will increase interest rates in the coming months? How will this impact the housing market?
4. Why are Millennials still sitting out of the housing market? What can be done to increase homeownership rates for this cohort?
5. What trends are impacting the housing market in 2025? Will it crash or boom?

Ask the Experts

Martina K. Schmidt
Ph.D. – Professor of Instruction, Kate Tiedemann School of Business and Finance - University of South Florida St. Petersburg
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Bart McLeroy
MS, MBA - Professor of Real Estate, Real Estate Discipline Lead - Collin College
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Dr. John A. Yeressian
JD, MBA - CA broker #01855965, Professor of Business and Real Estate, Department Chair El Camino College
Read More

Wendell Hahn
Instructor, Darla Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina
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Will Holder III
Professor of Practice — Department of Engineering Technology - Texas State University
Read More

Antonio Prado
Lecturer and Developer in Residence, Robert Traurig-Greenberg Traurig LL.M. in Real Property Development - University of Miami – Law
Read More

More Experts

Methodology

In order to determine the best real estate markets, WalletHub compared 300 cities across two key dimensions, “Real Estate Market” and “Affordability & Economic Environment.”

We evaluated those dimensions using 17 relevant metrics, which are listed below with their corresponding weights. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the healthiest housing market.

Finally, we determined each city’s weighted average across all metrics to calculate its overall score and used the resulting scores to rank-order our sample.

Each city in our sample was categorized according to the following population-size guidelines:

• Large city: More than 300,000 residents
• Midsize city: 150,000 to 300,000 residents
• Small city: Fewer than 150,000 residents

Real Estate Market – Total Points: 80

• Home Value Forecast: Full Weight (~8.00 Points)
  Note: This metric is based on Zillow’s Home Value Forecast, which predicts the Zillow Home Value Index one year from now - April 2025.
• Median Home-Price Appreciation: Full Weight (~8.00 Points)
• Median Days on the Market: Full Weight (~8.00 Points)
• Share of Seriously Underwater Mortgages: Full Weight (~8.00 Points)
  Note: This metric measures the proportion of seriously underwater mortgages, where the combined estimated balance of loans secured by those properties was at least 25 percent more than their estimated market value.
• Ratio of Rent Price to Sale Price: Full Weight (~8.00 Points)
• Foreclosure Rate: Full Weight (~8.00 Points)
• Share of People Delinquent on their Mortgage Debt: Full Weight (~8.00 Points)
• Vacancy Rate: Full Weight (~8.00 Points)
  Note: This metric was calculated as follows: Vacant Housing Units / Total Housing Units.
• Share of Young Homes: Full Weight (~8.00 Points)
  Note: “Young Homes” refer to housing units built between 2010 and 2023.
• Building-Permit Activity: Full Weight (~8.00 Points)
  Note: This metric measures the number of unit permits pulled per 1,000 residents.

Affordability & Economic Environment – Total Points: 20

• Housing Affordability: Double Weight (~5.00 Points)
  Note: This metric measures home price as share of income.
• Maintenance Affordability: Full Weight (~2.50 Points)
  Note: This metric measures maintenance costs as share of income.
• Population Growth Rate: Full Weight (~2.50 Points)
• Job Growth Rate: Full Weight (~2.50 Points)
• Unemployment Rate: Full Weight (~2.50 Points)
• Underemployment Rate: Full Weight (~2.50 Points)
• Median Credit Score: Full Weight (~2.50 Points)

Sources: Data used to create this ranking were collected as of July 1, 2025 from the U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Council for Community and Economic Research, Zillow, TransUnion, Chmura Economics & Analytics, The National Association of Realtors, ATTOM, a property data provider - U.S. Home Equity & Underwater Report, and ATTOM, a property data provider - U.S. Foreclosure Market Report.

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