Here’s Where Home Values Are Surging The Most In The U.S. This Year

Topline

Home values in upstate New York’s metropolitan areas have soared faster than any other region in the U.S. so far this year, according to data Zillow provided to Forbes, making it one of several affordable areas outside the biggest U.S. cities where values—and sale prices—are spiking.

Rochester is one of multiple cities making up a strong buyer’s market that has developed in upstate … [+] New York. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey)

Key Facts

Syracuse, New York: The average home value is up 4.3% so far this year (at $230,632) thanks to the area’s affordability and the fact buyers are far outnumbering available listings in the metropolitan area.

Zillow home trends expert Amanda Pendleton calls the spike upstate New York’s “breakout era”—one that has also made Rochester, Buffalo and Albany the top seller markets in the nation alongside Syracuse, according to Zillow.

Scranton, Pennsylvania: This lightly populated metropolitan area has matched Syracuse’s surge in average home value, according to Zillow, and is attracting buyers through inexpensive housing and home values nearly $160,000 lower than the U.S. average, which is about $360,000.

Hartford, Connecticut: Relatively affordable areas close to major cities on the Eastern Seaboard are surging and Hartford is no exception, as the capital city’s average home value ($362,763) has risen 4% so far this year, with total home listings in the area down 67% from pre-pandemic levels.

San Diego, California: Sunny San Diego is the only West Coast area in Zillow’s top five fastest-appreciating large metros and has experienced a 3.8% jump in average home value ($958,266)—as a large increase in new listings has not met buyer demand in the area, which is a challenging one for first-time buyers who have to deal with high down payments.

New York, New York: The number of homes for sale in the nation’s biggest metro area of New York is less than half what it was before the pandemic, giving sellers the advantage in negotiations and contributing to a 3.6% increase in the area’s average home value ($657,279).

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Tangent

Zillow’s data for home values is calculated by taking Zestimates—Zillow’s estimate of a home’s market value—for every home in a region and reporting the middle third. The data cited in this story ranges from Dec. 31, 2023 through May 31, 2024.

Which Metro Areas Have The Fastest-Growing Prices?

California’s San Jose area has the fastest-growing home sale prices, surging 8.2% from December 2023 to April 2024 according to S&P CoreLogic data provided to Forbes. The other metro areas with the highest spike in sale price within that time period are: Rochester, New York (8%), Seattle (6.3%), Albuquerque, New Mexico (5.3%) and Anaheim, California (5.2%). San Jose’s prices spiked after a drop in 2022 and 2023, fueled by increased mortgage costs due to interest rate hikes. However, in the last year, San Jose “has had the largest share of purchases by investors of any market in the U.S., driving a large piece of demand,” CoreLogic Principal Economist Molly Boesel told Forbes. Meanwhile, CoreLogic says home prices are up in Rochester due to low inventory and affordability. Metropolitan Seattle’s home prices fell nearly 15% in the second half of 2022 before an inventory buildup materialized the next year—though inventory has since fallen, contributing to its 6.3% surge in home prices. The Albuquerque housing market experienced its usual jump in the winter and spring this year, while Anaheim recently bounced back from a slide in home prices in 2022 and 2023.

Big Number

3.1%. That’s the increase in U.S. home prices from December 2023 to this April, according to CoreLogic. The jump is setting a slower pace than 2022 and 2021 but is still a stronger surge than the same time period during pre-pandemic years dating back to 2015.

Key Background

The cluster of the country’s fastest-appreciating metros in upstate New York is fueled by buyers “drastically” outnumbering listings, Pendleton said. Rochester leads the pack of the region’s metros in terms of buyer-friendly markets, with home values increasing from $218,564 in January to $224,734 by May, according to Zillow. The median sale price for a house in the city is $185,333. Limited home listings have recently contributed to an increase in prices nationally, following a slight slump from spring 2022 through most of 2023 that was triggered by an interest rate surge, Boesel said. Generally, more expensive metro areas in the U.S. “saw a larger impact on home prices in 2022-2023, and some of these areas [are]

experiencing rebounds in prices in 2024.”

What To Watch For

Zillow forecasts a 0.4% growth in home values at the national level this year and expects home values to drop 1.4% over the next year. Many new for-sale listings are remaining on the market for larger stretches of time, which has triggered an inventory build-up and put “some downward pressure on home price appreciation,” according to Zillow.