15 Hottest Housing Markets for 2024

Most of the markets in Realtor.com's 2024 top U.S. housing markets forecast, released Monday, offer relative affordability compared with the national median home price. This is welcome news for first-time homebuyers, 49% of whom consider buying a better option than renting next year, according to a recent survey by Realtor.com. Seventy-six percent of participants think they can fulfill their dream of owning a home. The survey also found that first-time buyers who are looking to buy a home in the next 12 months have been saving for just over two years on average, putting away about $800 a month. Nearly all expect to be able to afford a home within their lifetime, and 40% said they will be able to afford one within the next year. Across the nation's largest 100 metropolitan areas, sales price growth is expected to outpace the national average in 2024, according to Realtor.com's research. Median sales prices in those metros are expected to rise by an average of 1.2%, compared with a 1.7% decline nationwide. Home sales in the 100 biggest markets will fall by an estimated 2.2%, while sales will increase by just 0.1% overall. "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 in a statement. "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." Are there any wildcards in this scenario? Realtor.com noted that up to now, the national labor market has remained strong even in the face of the Federal Reserve's interest-rate increases. In the top markets of the Northeast and Midwest, housing market growth could be at risk if unemployment rises above expectations, or if job creation weakens in dominant sectors including education, health care, manufacturing and government. In California, growth in home sales in the top markets will depend on a gradual easing of mortgage rates to a predicted 6.5% by the end of 2024, according to Realtor.com. If inflation takes longer to ease and declines in mortgage rates stall or reverse, home sales in those markets could flatten or dip. Realtor.com researchers use data on the housing market and overall economy to estimate values for these variables in the year ahead, then rank these markets by combined forecasted growth in home prices and sales. In addition, Realtor.com and Censuswide conducted a survey in October among 5,012 U.S. adult respondents. See the accompanying gallery for the top housing markets in 2024, according to Realtor.com.