Three weeks ahead of New Year’s Eve, Realtor.com has published its forecast for the Top Housing Markets for 2025 – with all the locations based in the South and the West.
The new year’s top 10 housing markets, ranked in order, are:
- Colorado Springs, Colorado
- Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, Florida
- Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, Virginia
- El Paso, Texas
- Richmond, Virginia
- Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, Florida
- McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas
- Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, Arizona
- Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Alpharetta, Georgia
- Greensboro-High Point, North Carolina
Realtor.com noted that eight of the top 10 metros have seen year-over-year growth in single-family home construction, with builders increasingly focusing on more affordable and smaller homes. Younger households are notably more common in these markets, with all but Miami having an above-average share of residents under age 35, while more than one in seven households in the top markets are active-duty or veteran, and 17.6% of the markets’ residents are foreign-born, compared to an average of 13% in the largest metros.
As a result of construction and demographics in these areas, government-backed lending options like VA, FHA, and USDA mortgages are more prevalent among buyers and are helping more households achieve homeownership with lower down payments.
“While nationwide home sales are expected to see a slight uptick this year, driven by a cooling in home price growth, the top markets we’ve identified are poised for stronger sales and price gains in 2025,” said Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com. “With mortgage rates likely to ease only modestly next year, these markets – offering relatively lower-priced homes, more new and existing houses to choose from, and mortgage products designed to give buyers a leg up – could provide some would-be buyers a better chance at entering the market next year.”
