Texas and Arizona dominated top spots in WalletHub’s report on 2021’s best real-estate markets.
Half of the top ten markets were in Texas, with Frisco, TX taking the number one spot. Five of the top thirty cities are in Arizona.
WalletHub used two dimensions for the ranking: real-estate market data, such as median home prices, median days on the market, and number of seriously underwater mortgages; and economic environment data, such as job growth rate and housing affordability.
The number of pending sales in Frisco, a suburb of Dallas-Fort Worth, rose by 42% from May 2020 to May 2021. High demand and low inventory forced Frisco’s median sale up by nearly 24% in the same time. The fourth, fifth, and sixth-ranked cities are also part of the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area.
The rankings reflect population explosions in the South and West over the last 10 years. Many of the fastest-growing cities in the US are in Texas, and the most recent census data puts Phoenix, AZ, as number one in overall population growth.
“The unconventional oil and gas boom has helped turn Texas into an economic juggernaut, particularly world energy capital Houston, but growth has also been strong in tech, manufacturing and business services,” said Joel Kotkin, professor of urban development at Chapman University. He also attributes the boom to low taxes, land prices, and living costs.
Here are some other highlights from the report:
- Daly and San Mateo, California, have the lowest share of seriously underwater mortgages, 0.92 percent, which is 20.7 times lower than in Norfolk, Virginia, the city with the highest at 19.03 percent.
- Centennial, Colorado, has the lowest vacancy rate, 2.10 percent, which is 17.6 times lower than in Miami Beach, Florida, the city with the highest at 37.00 percent.
- Toledo, Ohio, has the lowest home price as a share of income, 105.73 percent, which is 19.2 times lower than in Santa Barbara, California, the city with the highest at 2,029.46 percent.