Home > Blog > The Top 100 Hottest US Housing Markets in 2022

The Top 100 Hottest US Housing Markets in 2022

By Zain Deane

Updated Nov 8, 2022

By Zain Deane

Updated Nov 8, 2022

Home > Blog > The Top 100 Hottest US Housing Markets in 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, House Method 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

Average active home listing per month—1.5 Weight
Average days on the market before pending sale—Double Weight

Population Growth—5 points

Population growth change percentage from 2010 census vs 2020 census data —Half Weight

Sources

U.S. Census Bureau
Redfin
Zillow
World Population Review
Kiplingler

Read More

The Top 100 Hottest US Housing Markets in 2022

Main Findings

Summary

Methodology

Sources

Are Big Companies Really Buying Up Single-family Homes?

The Best Home & Garden Deals for the Amazon Prime Early Access Sale (2023)

Amazon’s Best Last-minute Halloween Decorations (2023)

How Queen Elizabeth II Shaped the Interior Design of Buckingham Palace

10 Tips for Cleaning and Refreshing Outdoor Wood Furniture

Guide To Hiring the Right Realtor

10 Hacks to Make Your Kitchen Look Bigger

How to Stage Your Bedroom for Under $500

How To Refresh Your Bedroom for Under $500

Sign up for the Daily Method