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GOBankingRates

J. David Herman

30 Hottest Housing Markets That Will Help You Build Wealth

DenisTangneyJr United States GOBankingRates Pennsylvania New York Ohio Wisconsin

If you’re eyeing housing markets with a strong investing upside, you may want to check out the Keystone State.

Check Out: The GOBankingRates Original Research Center

Learn More: 5 Types of Cars Retirees Should Stay Away From Buying

Pennsylvania landed seven cities in the top 30 housing markets for growing your wealth this year. That’s based on a new GOBankingRates analysis, which looked at factors like percentage increases in home value over the past two years, the average sale-to-list ratio, and other criteria.

Key Findings

Here are a few more key findings:

The 30 best bang-for-your buck housing markets are all located in the northern half of the U.S., east of the Mississippi River. Only two regions — the Midwest and the Northeast — are represented.
After Pennsylvania, the most represented states are New York and Ohio, with five entries each. Wisconsin lands four locales on the list, including three in the top 10.
All nine of the states represented in the list are located in the Rust Belt, or in historically industrialized regions.
Among the cities in the list, Utica, New York, saw the largest one-year increase in home value (6.2%). Rockford, Illinois, saw the largest two-year bump — a whopping 18.25%.

Here are the 30 best housing markets to grow your wealth, counting down from 30 to 1 based on 10 weighted factors. You can find the full methodology at the end of the gallery.

Also see America’s best hidden gem housing markets.

Also See: 4 Housing Markets That Have Plummeted in Value Over the Past 5 Years

Find More: The Cheapest Place To Buy a Home in Every State

30. Akron, Ohio

1-year % change in home value: 3.70%
2-year % change in home value: 10.2%
Average sale-to-list ratio: 100.2%
% of listings with price cuts: 26%

Discover More: 4 States Where Home Prices Are Expected To Crash in the Next 12 Months

DenisTangneyJr / Getty Images/iStockphoto

29. Youngstown, Ohio

1-year % change in home value: 4.99%
2-year % change in home value: 12.6%
Average sale-to-list ratio: 97.5%
% of listings with price cuts: 27.2%

28. Albany, New York

1-year % change in home value: 3.63%
2-year % change in home value: 10%
Average sale-to-list ratio: 102.4%
% of listings with price cuts: 21.9%

27. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

1-year % change in home value: 4.04%
2-year % change in home value: 8.10%
Average sale-to-list ratio: 100.8%
% of listings with price cuts: 24.9%

felixmizioznikov / Getty Images/iStockphoto

26. Atlantic City, New Jersey

1-year % change in home value: 4.29%
2-year % change in home value: 13.3%
Average sale-to-list ratio: 98%
% of listings with price cuts: 21%

See More: 5 Cities Where Homes Will Be a Total Steal in 2 Years

25. Trenton, New Jersey

1-year % change in home value: 2.55%
2-year % change in home value: 11.4%
Average sale-to-list ratio: 101.8%
% of listings with price cuts: 17.4%

24. Lansing, Michigan

1-year % change in home value: 3.55%
2-year % change in home value: 9.8%
Average sale-to-list ratio: 100.7%
% of listings with price cuts: 24.2%

23. Manchester, New Hampshire

1-year % change in home value: 2.82%
2-year % change in home value: 10.6%
Average sale-to-list ratio: 102.2%
% of listings with price cuts: 21.7%

22. Madison, Wisconsin

1-year % change in home value: 2.56%
2-year % change in home value: 8.39%
Average sale-to-list ratio: 101.8%
% of listings with price cuts: 19.2%

21. Cleveland

1-year % change in home value: 4.48%
2-year % change in home value: 11.5%
Average sale-to-list ratio: 100.2%
% of listings with price cuts: 24.7%

20. Scranton, Pennsylvania

1-year % change in home value: 5.24%
2-year % change in home value: 13.1%
Average sale-to-list ratio: 98.6%
% of listings with price cuts: 24.4%

19. Allentown, Pennsylvania

1-year % change in home value: 3.29%
2-year % change in home value: 9.76%
Average sale-to-list ratio: 101.4%
% of listings with price cuts: 20.8%

18. Toledo, Ohio

1-year % change in home value: 3.56%
2-year % change in home value: 9.61%
Average sale-to-list ratio: 99.4%
% of listings with price cuts: 21.5%

Explore More: 12 East Coast Cities Where You Need To Earn Six Figures To Afford a Typical Home

17. Buffalo, New York

1-year % change in home value: 3.39%
2-year % change in home value: 9.92%
Average sale-to-list ratio: 107.8%
% of listings with price cuts: 20%

16. York, Pennsylvania

1-year % change in home value: 5.19%
2-year % change in home value: 9.43%
Average sale-to-list ratio: 100.6%
% of listings with price cuts: 25.7%

15. New Haven, Connecticut

1-year % change in home value: 3.68%
2-year % change in home value: 12.8%
Average sale-to-list ratio: 102.8%
% of listings with price cuts: 20.8%

14. Utica, New York

1-year % change in home value: 6.20%
2-year % change in home value: 14.2%
Average sale-to-list ratio: 98.9%
% of listings with price cuts: 21.5%

Also See: 33 Cities Where You Need To Earn Six Figures To Afford a Typical Home

13. Canton, Ohio

1-year % change in home value: 5.95%
2-year % change in home value: 12.1%
Average sale-to-list ratio: 99.6%
% of listings with price cuts: 25.8%

12. Norwich, Connecticut

1-year % change in home value: 4.87%
2-year % change in home value: 13.5%
Average sale-to-list ratio: 102.3%
% of listings with price cuts: 19.8%

11. Lancaster, Pennsylvania

1-year % change in home value: 4.43%
2-year % change in home value: 8.77%
Average sale-to-list ratio: 102.2%
% of listings with price cuts: 21.3%

10. Milwaukee

1-year % change in home value: 3.18%
2-year % change in home value: 8.96%
Average sale-to-list ratio: 102%
% of listings with price cuts: 16.4%

Also Find: 7 California Cities Where You Need To Earn Six Figures To Afford a Typical Home

9. Reading, Pennsylvania

1-year % change in home value: 4.83%
2-year % change in home value: 10.8%
Average sale-to-list ratio: 101.5%
% of listings with price cuts: 20.8%

8. Syracuse, New York

1-year % change in home value: 5.29%
2-year % change in home value: 16.6%
Average sale-to-list ratio: 105.6%
% of listings with price cuts: 19.6%

martinhosmart / Getty Images/iStockphoto

7. Erie, Pennsylvania

1-year % change in home value: 6.19%
2-year % change in home value: 13.8%
Average sale-to-list ratio: 101%
% of listings with price cuts: 22.3%

6. Hartford, Connecticut

1-year % change in home value: 4.28%
2-year % change in home value: 14.1%
Average sale-to-list ratio: 105.3%
% of listings with price cuts: 18.2%

See More: 19 States Where You Don’t Have To Earn Six Figures To Buy a Home

5. Peoria, Illinois

1-year % change in home value: 7.99%
2-year % change in home value: 13.9%
Average sale-to-list ratio: 99.4%
% of listings with price cuts: 26.6%

4. Green Bay, Wisconsin

1-year % change in home value: 4.94%
2-year % change in home value: 12.5%
Average sale-to-list ratio: 101.6%
% of listings with price cuts: 14.1%

3. Rochester, New York

1-year % change in home value: 3.73%
2-year % change in home value: 11.8%
Average sale-to-list ratio: 117.7%
% of listings with price cuts: 13.7%

2. Rockford, Illinois

1-year % change in home value: 6.64%
2-year % change in home value: 18.3%
Average sale-to-list ratio: 100.6%
% of listings with price cuts: 19.1%

1. Appleton, Wisconsin

1-year % change in home value: 6.35%
2-year % change in home value: 12%
Average sale-to-list ratio: 102.2%
% of listings with price cuts: 11.8%

Methodology: For this piece, GOBankingRates analyzed the 200 largest Metro Statistical Areas (MSAs) and sourced the following factors from Zillow’s July 2025 data: 1) 1-year percent change in home value, 2) 1-year change in home value in USD, 3) 2-year percent change in home value, 4) 2-year change in home value in USD, 5) for-sale inventory, 6) mean days from listing to pending, 7) mean list-to-sale ratio, 8) mean days from pending to close, 9) share of listings with a price cut, and 10) mean price cut. All 10 factors were then scored and combined, with the highest scores representing the worst housing markets. In final calculations, factors 1, 2, 9 and 10 were weighted 2x and factor 5 was weighted 0.5x. All data is up to date as of Oct. 7, 2025.

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