Buffalo, New York will see its housing market become the most competitive out of 50 major cities this year, projections from Zillow indicated.
The online real estate company said late last week that affordability and the level of new jobs per new home permitted helped the western New York city get the title of 2024’s anticipated hottest market. Buffalo home values being slated to remain "steady" contributed too, according to Zillow.
The Buffalo area has seen homes worth $248,445 on average as of late, with residences tending to stay on the market for two weeks, according to the report. Zillow anticipates that figure will post a 0.2% decrease this year.
The waterfront and city of Buffalo, New York as seen from the inner harbor. (Photo by: Universal Images Group via Getty Images) (Universal Images Group via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Affordability applied to other cities projected to see 2024 competitiveness, Zillow noted.
Other markets that appeared on Zillow’s ranking in ascending order after Buffalo were:
Of the 10 cities Zillow anticipates will be the hottest this year, Providence currently has the highest typical home value, at $455,609, and Cleveland has the lowest with $215,597. For the U.S. overall, the value of typical homes came in at $347,415, according to the company.
Buyers snapped up listed homes in Cincinnati in short periods of time in 2023, contributing to its No. 2 spot. The projected third-hottest market for 2024, Columbus, could experience growth in owner-occupied households upwards of 11%, Zillow said.
BRAZIL - 2022/04/22: In this photo illustration, the Zillow Group logo is seen in the background of a silhouetted woman holding a mobile phone. (Photo Illustration by Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images) (Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images / Getty Images)
The online real estate company used things like housing market velocity, construction activity, labor market data and more when determining its list.
"Housing markets are healthiest where affordable home prices and strong employment are giving young hopefuls a real shot at buying and starting to build equity. I’m cautiously optimistic that the housing market will get back on stable footing in 2024 – we shouldn’t see the massive price spikes of the early pandemic or fast-rising mortgage rates of recent years," Zillow Economic Research Data Scientist Anushna Prakash said in a statement.
Home purchase activity has decreased for the fourth week in a row. (Jeremy Erickson/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images / Getty Images)
Thirty-year fixed mortgages had a rate of 6.62% on average for the week of Jan. 4, according to Freddie Mac.
In late December, the National Association of Realtors said the U.S. clocked an annual rate of 3.82 million existing home sales in November. Meanwhile, the seasonally adjusted annual rate of new single-family homes sales in the same month was 590,000, per the Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Redfin said in a report released in early January that home listings active in the four weeks ending Dec. 31 came in around 789,500.