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Even after home prices and mortgage rates rose for much of 2024, markets in the South and West are uniquely poised for growth next year. This week, Realtor.com highlighted markets in Colorado, Florida, Virginia and Texas among its top housing markets for 2025.
The forecast combines housing market and economic data to rank the 100 largest U.S. metropolitan areas. Realtor.com ranked these markets based on estimated growth in homes prices and home sales in 2025. The real estate portal also noted that younger families (those below 35 years of age) and military households have high representation among the top markets.
The No. 1 market for 2025 is Colorado Springs, Colorado. It is followed by Miami; Virginia Beach, Virginia; El Paso, Texas; Richmond, Virginia; Orlando; McAllen, Texas; Phoenix; Atlanta; and Greensboro, North Carolina.
“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,” Realtor.com chief economist Danielle Hale said in a statement.
Realtor.com noted that seven of the top 10 markets are more affordable than average in terms of housing expenses. McAllen, Texas, was the most affordable market with living costs 13% below the national average. Miami, where living expenses were 11.5% above the national average, was the least affordable.
Realtor.com notes that “while these areas generally offer lower home prices than the national average, incomes tend to be lower as well.” Among the top 10 markets, buyers spend about 31.1% of their income on housing — slightly above the national average of 29.2%.
Many buyers in these markets target flexible work opportunities to offset lower incomes. Five of the top 10 markets — Richmond, Atlanta, Phoenix, Colorado Springs and Orlando — had higher shares of remote and hybrid work listings than the U.S. average.
Realtor.com also noted that higher shares of homeowners without mortgages will protect some of these markets from rising mortgage rates and cause them to be less impacted by the lock-in effect. Among the top 10 markets, McAllen (61.7%), El Paso (49%), Miami (43.8%) and Greensboro (38.2%) had the highest shares of “outright ownership.”
On average, 28.8% of the households in the top 10 markets include children, compared to a national average of 26.5%, while roughly one in seven were active-duty military or veterans.
Realtor.com wasn’t overly excited about the prospect for home sales in 2025. It projected 1.5% growth in existing-home sales for a total of slightly more than 4 million. HousingWire‘s forecast is a tad more optimistic at 4.2 million.
Recent government shifts also play a factor. President-elect Donald Trump plans to enact mass deportation initiatives and tariffs that could rock the overall economy and housing market in 2025.
