26 popular cities where houses are at least $100,000 cheaper than the national median
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- Mortgage rates should fall as the Federal Reserve cuts interest rates next month.
- Homebuyers are flocking to cities with affordable homes.
- Here are 26 popular cities where houses are inexpensive, according to Realtor.com.
A long-awaited reawakening for the US housing market may be right around the corner.
Interest rates are almost certain to fall in September, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell indicated on Friday, which should help bring mortgage rates down even further.
Lower rates would be a salve for the home affordability headaches plaguing millions of buyers, and they'll also help sellers move without getting saddled with much higher mortgage payments.
It's unclear how cheaper borrowing costs will affect home prices, which could reverse higher as buyers return to the market or continue to slide as sellers list their homes en masse. The median price of a US house was $439,950 in July, according to Realtor.com. That's modestly lower than June's going rate of $445,000, but it's still stubbornly high, given the circumstances.
"Home prices leveled off nationally over the last year, but have remained impressively sticky despite waning buyer demand due to still-high housing costs," Realtor.com researchers wrote in a recent report about popular housing markets.
What buyers want — and where they're going
Unsurprisingly, Realtor.com's analysis showed that homebuyers are gravitating toward affordable cities in this high-rate backdrop. That's driven them away from cities in the South and West, many of which boomed early in the pandemic, in favor of Midwestern and Northern cities. All 10 of the nation's hottest zip codes are in those latter regions, according to Realtor.com.
"Buyer interest has shifted away from the areas that are generally unaffordable, or have become less affordable due to significant price growth during the pandemic," Realtor.com researchers wrote. They also noted that buyers have zeroed in on "affordable Midwest and well-located Northeast metros that offer some combination of value and desirability."
That has created a paradox of affordability, where once-cheap markets become more expensive as movers discover them. The 10 hottest real-estate markets saw their home prices surge 7.4% in the first half of 2024, far outpacing the 0.4% year-over-year growth across the US.
Needless to say, properties in popular, inexpensive cities weren't on the market for long. Homes in those top locations were viewed on Realtor.com's site roughly three to five times more than the typical US house from January to June, and they sold between 32 and 45 days faster.
Home inventory ticked up in those hot markets, but the 5.7% listing growth paled in comparison to the nationwide jump of 24.7% in the first six months of the year, Realtor.com found.
However, not everyone is looking for a bargain. Deep-pocketed buyers are comfortable paying up for houses in pricier markets that offer a slower pace of life, according to Realtor.com.
"While some buyers are looking for a deal in a given area, others are less concerned about keeping the price low, whether because they are making a move from a higher-priced area or because they are cashing in on their existing home equity and looking to upgrade," Realtor.com researchers wrote.
26 popular but affordable housing markets
To help buyers find fairly priced homes as mortgage rates fall, Business Insider reviewed Realtor.com's list of the 50 hottest zip codes in the US and narrowed it down to cities where home prices cost significantly less than the national median.
There are 26 markets that are highly popular and were at least $100,000 cheaper than the US median price of $445,000 in June, based on their median listing price from the first half of the year. Astoundingly, all of those zip codes are in either the Midwest or Northeast.
"Though buyers have more options across the country, this year's hottest zip codes show that demand remains concentrated in markets that offer bang for your buck," the report read.
Below are those 26 cities, sorted by the lowest median home price, along with each's zip code, region, median home price from January to June, discount compared to the US median price of $445,000 in June, market demand score, and median time on the market.
The market demand score shows how often properties in a market were viewed relative to the national median; cities with homes viewed twice as much as the typical US listing would get a score of 2x. If the town in the ZIP code differs from its metropolitan area, the specific town is in parentheses.