Buffalo, New York may be one of the snowiest cities in America, but it will have the hottest housing market this year, according to a new report from Zillow.
The real estate company analyzed the top 50 metropolitan areas in the United States and considered a variety of factors to determine the “hottest” markets.
This includes expected home value growth from December 2023 to November 2024, employment availability, and how quickly homes are selling.
Buffalo rose to the top of the list due to relatively inexpensive housing and the city’s good job prospects. Zillow estimates that the typical home price in Buffalo is currently $248,445, while the national average is $347,415. If a buyer puts her 5% down payment on a Buffalo home, he will pay $1,792 a month in mortgage payments.
One of the key metrics Zillow used to measure Buffalo’s projected housing demand was the number of new jobs created in the area relative to the number of new homes built.
Of all 50 cities surveyed by Zillow, Buffalo has the highest number of jobs per new home, the company noted. Giraud said job growth is expected to increase housing competition and drive up home prices unless enough new housing is built to meet demand.
Buffalo is also known for its harsh winters. According to the National Weather Service, 133.6 inches of snow fell in Buffalo from 2022 to 2023.
“The temperatures are cold, but the market is not,” Vienna Laurendi, president of the Buffalo Niagara Association of Realtors and an associate real estate broker with Howard Hanna Real Estate Services, told MarketWatch. .
Buffalo was also recently designated a federal technology hub, along with Rochester and Syracuse, and will receive billions of dollars in federal funding. The funding will be used next year to build the region into a semiconductor manufacturing hub.
Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, has also launched a multibillion-dollar initiative called “Buffalo Billion” to stimulate the economy. The city is also a college town boasting names such as the State University of New York at Buffalo and the University at Buffalo. It’s also home to the Buffalo AKG Museum and Buffalo Bills players, including Josh Allen and Dion Dawkins.
“We have a lot of energy in both the city of Buffalo and the city of Niagara Falls,” said Laurendi, a Buffalo native.
Lorendi pointed out that Buffalo also has a large medical campus, which attracts business from the medical community as well as supporting organizations that the medical community needs.
“We are the largest small city in the United States,” she said.
Laurendi also pointed out that there is a huge opportunity for more new housing to be built in the city.
“We have so much underutilized land,” he said, “and we have old infrastructure and old buildings that are just begging for revitalization, and that’s what developers are looking at today.” she told MarketWatch. Part of her job involves looking at old factories and buildings that are no longer in use, “but they have great qualities that are important and can be regenerated into something great.” ,” Laurendi added.
Other “hot” housing markets in 2024
Midwest cities took second, third and fourth place on Zillow’s list of most popular markets. This is also because housing is more affordable in these cities. These include Cincinnati and Columbus in Ohio, and Indianapolis in Indiana.
“Now that the holidays are over, buyers are definitely coming back,” Lorendi said, especially with mortgage rates below 7%.
Like Buffalo, home prices in Cincinnati and Columbus are lower than the national average, at around $300,000 or less in both Ohio markets, and monthly mortgage payments for buyers with a 5% down payment are lower than the national average. It will cost less than $2,200.
“Inventory is moving very quickly in Cincinnati, and Columbus is expected to have the fastest growth in homeownership households, a sign of family formation and population growth,” Giroux said.
Cheaper market gives young people ‘serious buying opportunities’
Midwestern cities have topped real estate lists over the past year due to factors such as relatively affordable housing and a slower pace of life.
Anushna Prakash, data scientist at Zillow Economic Research, said: “We have the healthiest housing market, with affordable home prices and strong employment giving promising young people an opportunity to actually buy and start building wealth. is given,” he said.
According to Zillow, the hottest housing market last year was Charlotte, North Carolina. The city fell to seventh place in 2024.