The Top 100 Hottest US Housing Markets in 2022

Written By

Staff Writer

Alora Bopray is a digital content producer for the home warranty, HVAC, and plumbing categories at Today's Homeowner. She earned her bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of St. Scholastica and her master's degree from the University of Denver. Before becoming a writer for Today's Homeowner, Alora wrote as a freelance writer for dozens of home improvement clients and informed homeowners about the solar industry as a writer for EcoWatch. When she's not writing, Alora can be found planning her next DIY home improvement project or plotting her next novel.

Reviewed By

Roxanne Downer

Reviewed By

Roxanne Downer

Editor

Roxanne Downer is a commerce editor at Today’s Homeowner, where she tackles everything from foundation repair to solar panel installation. She brings more than 15 years of writing and editing experience to bear in her meticulous approach to ensuring accurate, up-to-date, and engaging content. She’s previously edited for outlets including MSN, Architectural Digest, and Better Homes & Gardens. An alumna of the University of Pennsylvania, Roxanne is now an Oklahoma homeowner, DIY enthusiast, and the proud parent of a playful pug.

Published On

April 27, 2023June 20, 2022

The housing market has exploded in recent years due to fluctuating mortgage rates, high demand accompanied by low inventory, as well as remote working opportunities allowing millions to rethink their home base. Americans have begun to rethink their priorities in a living space, many prioritizing space and comfort while others have flocked to bustling metropolises, leading to an exponential increase in home ownership.

Whether you are interested in selling your home for a large profit or researching the most friendly market for first time home buying, Today’s Homeowner conducted a study to rank the hottest (and some of the cooler) housing markets in the U.S.

We analyzed data on the 100 largest MSA’s (Metropolitan Statistical Areas) and ranked them according to seven factors, such as affordability, inventory and population growth. Read on for the complete rankings and explanation of the methodology behind this study.

Here are some of our most interesting findings:

Home prices increased by an average of 21% since 2021
The top 10 markets rarely have listings sit on the market for more than 15 days, 40% less than the national average (25 days).
Many of the hottest housing markets are also some of the least affordable as demand increases and inventory decreases
Home equity has skyrocketed, allowing sellers to make huge profits
Home prices are projected to increase another 14.9% before 2023, even with steep mortgage rate increases

Main Findings

Below you’ll find the cities where homes are flying off the market fastest in ranked order, showing the rank, total score, and specific factor-category rank.

Rank	MSA	Overall Score	Affordability Rank	Inventory Rank	Population Growth Rank
1	Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Fla.	38.21	67	6	26
2	Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz.	36.71	73	14	13
3	Austin-Round Rock, Texas	36.66	82	4	11
4	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Wash.	36.42	93	30	18
5	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif.	36.28	99	75	65
6	Raleigh, N.C.	36.27	58	19	15
7	Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, N.C.-S.C.	36.22	51	12	14
8	Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla.	36.04	77	20	16
9	Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, Nev.	35.86	79	16	35
10	Salt Lake City, Utah	35.84	70	76	60
11	San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, Calif.	35.67	100	32	51
12	Lakeland-Winter Haven, Fla.	35.64	45	50	10
13	Colorado Springs, Colo.	35.27	66	80	30
14	San Diego-Carlsbad, Calif.	35.2	96	33	54
15	Charleston-North Charleston, S.C.	35.16	78	42	8
16	Nashville-Davidson–Murfreesboro–Franklin, Tenn.	34.91	64	27	41
17	Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, Ind.	34.84	30	37	56
18	Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, Fla.	34.82	62	17	24
19	Boise City, Idaho	34.77	87	68	49
20	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, Ore.-Wash.	34.6	84	47	38
21	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas	34.57	53	5	43
22	Columbus, Ohio	34.5	32	52	31
23	Stockton-Lodi, Calif.	34.14	86	95	59
24	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, Calif.	34.02	97	9	66
25	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif.	33.88	85	13	47
26	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, Ga.	33.81	50	23	23
27	Spokane-Spokane Valley, Wash.	33.75	69	94	50
28	North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton, Fla.	33.51	83	26	17
29	Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, Fla.	33.49	71	31	9
30	Jacksonville, Fla.	33.22	72	21	37
31	Dayton, Ohio	33.18	10	64	5
32	Durham-Chapel Hill, N.C.	33.09	76	83	20
33	Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, Colo.	33.04	75	29	21
34	Grand Rapids-Wyoming, Mich	32.5	33	65	58
35	Richmond, Va.	32.36	38	46	36
36	Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, Mich	32.26	26	10	100
37	Cincinnati, Ohio-Ky.-Ind.	32.19	21	41	69
38	Portland-South Portland, Maine	32.01	81	97	71
39	Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, Fla.	31.93	91	3	27
40	Chattanooga, Tenn.-Ga.	31.84	36	72	55
41	Sacramento–Roseville–Arden-Arcade, Calif.	31.58	89	44	39
42	Fresno, Calif.	31.5	74	90	57
43	Wichita, Kan.	31.49	13	88	76
44	Knoxville, Tenn.	31.37	37	61	63
45	Omaha-Council Bluffs, Neb.-Iowa	31.35	39	66	68
46	Bakersfield, Calif.	31.35	61	39	22
47	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, Minn.-Wis.	31.34	49	15	34
48	Albany-Schenectady-Troy, N.Y.	31.24	35	49	2
49	Albuquerque, N.M.	30.9	46	71	73
50	Providence-Warwick, R.I.-Mass.	30.88	80	84	81
51	Madison, Wis.	30.86	52	85	40
52	Columbia, S.C.	30.69	18	57	3
53	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, Md.	30.53	40	25	95
54	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, Calif.	30.53	94	86	67
55	Worcester, Mass.-Conn.	30.47	68	96	80
56	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, Conn.	30.34	44	89	1
57	Springfield, Mass.	30.27	48	78	61
58	Kansas City, Mo.-Kan.	30.23	31	34	52
59	New Orleans-Metairie, La.	30.15	29	40	45
60	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, Mass.-N.H.	30.03	92	69	44
61	Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, Va.-N.C.	30.03	65	22	75
62	Greenville-Anderson-Mauldin, S.C.	29.99	22	59	25
63	Tucson, Ariz.	29.8	57	60	62
64	Harrisburg-Carlisle, Pa.	29.79	23	93	19
65	Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, Texas	29.77	34	2	46
66	St. Louis, Mo.-Ill.	29.64	16	24	96
67	New York-Newark-Jersey City, N.Y.-N.J.-Pa.	29.57	95	1	85
68	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-Va.-Md.-W. Va.	29.35	88	11	29
69	New Haven-Milford, Conn.	29.21	55	91	7
70	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, Pa.-N.J.-Del.-Md.	29.19	41	7	70
71	Louisville/Jefferson County, Ky.-Ind.	29.08	19	51	72
72	Oklahoma City, Okla.	29.01	60	38	32
73	Rochester, N.Y.	28.87	6	73	92
74	Scranton–Wilkes-Barre–Hazleton, Pa.	28.84	7	74	6
75	Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, Pa.-N.J.	28.53	25	58	12
76	Tulsa, Okla.	28.47	11	54	74
77	Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Niagara Falls, N.Y.	28.26	54	77	93
78	Akron, Ohio	28.17	8	81	89
79	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, Ill.-Ind.-Wis.	28.13	56	8	87
80	Augusta-Richmond County, Ga.-S.C.	28.05	27	67	78
81	San Antonio-New Braunfels, Texas	28.03	42	18	28
82	El Paso, Texas	27.14	12	62	64
83	Memphis, Tenn.-Miss.-Ark.	27.1	15	55	86
84	Baton Rouge, La.	27.05	20	43	98
85	Cleveland-Elyria, Ohio	27.01	2	35	97
86	Birmingham-Hoover, Ala.	26.29	24	45	94
87	Toledo, Ohio	26.25	4	82	99
88	Pittsburgh, Pa.	25.68	17	28	91
89	Des Moines-West Des Moines, Iowa	25.53	59	48	79
90	Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, Ark.	25.51	43	63	82
91	Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, Ohio-Pa.	24.71	1	87	4
92	Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, Wis.	24.27	47	56	90
93	Syracuse, N.Y.	24.25	5	79	77
94	Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, Fla.	21.4	63	53	33
95	Honolulu, Hawaii	20	98	36	83
96	Jackson, Miss.	19.51	3	70	84
97	Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, Conn.	18.01	90	99	88
98	Greensboro-High Point, N.C.	15.03	28	98	42
99	McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas	12.83	9	92	48
100	Winston-Salem, N.C.	7.57	14	100	53

Summary

Our analyses found that Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Florida, tops the list as the hottest housing market this year. Homes are sitting on the market for the least amount of time before selling, selling for top dollar, and attracting new residents at a rapid rate. Low inventory combined with a quick sale rate contributed to its high score – and it’s important to note that many of the top spots ranked poorly for affordability.

As these hot housing markets continue to gain traction, we can assume that affordability will continue to dwindle. The other top 5 spots were rounded out by:

Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Arizona
Austin-Round Rock, Texas
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Washington
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California

Jackson, Mississippi, Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, Connecticut, Greensboro-High Point, North Carolina, McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas and Winston-Salem, North Carolina received the lowest ranking for hottest housing markets. These markets remain cooler than those who ranked highly due to ample housing inventory and slower population growth. Although it is still a seller’s market, these MSA’s may not fly off the market quite as quickly as their high-ranking counterparts.

Methodology

To find the hottest housing markets in 2022, we looked at data for the 100 largest MSA’s (Metropolitan Statistical Areas) in the United States. We ranked the cities using three categories:

Affordability
Inventory
Population Growth

In all, there were 7 factors across those three larger categories that are listed below along with their corresponding weights. Each city was graded on an 85-point scale, with a score of 85 representing the hottest housing market.

Finally, we determined each city’s weighted average across all categories to calculate its heat score and used the results to rank-order our sample.

Affordability—45 points

Home price change percentage 2021 vs 2022—Double Weight
Homes price change percentage 2012 vs 2022—Full Weight
Average price per square foot (measured in hundreds)—Full Weight
Majority of homes available below and above the national average of $428,700 (calculated with average home price and factored into a yes or no ratio)— Half Weight

Inventory—35 points