10 US Cities With Skyrocketing Home Values

November 11, 2017 by Paul Ausick

If you’ve been paying attention to the real estate market for the past few years, you already know the cities where home prices are rising fastest. They would be San Francisco, Seattle, and Denver, among others.

But where are home values appreciating the most? After all if you buy a house in Seattle, is the 6% to 10% year-over-year growth in the home’s value going to deliver the most for your money?

According to the experts at Realtor.com, home value appreciation in the double digits is more common in less expensive markets rather than in those with already sky-high prices. Values in former manufacturing centers, especially in the Midwest, have been catching up with their coastal brethren but still offer affordable housing.

Realtor.com analyzed median listing prices in the top 300 U.S. metro areas between September 2014 and September 2017 looking at the percentage change (not the total dollar increase) over one, three, and five years. A $50,000 dollar increase in Boston, for example, where the median price is $489,500 is not the same as $50,000 in home appreciation in Cincinnati, where the median price is $227,400.

Here are the top 10 cities according to Realtor.com’s analysis along with their median home prices and one, three, and five year appreciation percentage.

  1. Omaha, Nebraska
    Median: $259,400
    One-year change: 20.7%
    Three-year change: 62.1%
    Five-year change: 73.5%
  2. Santa Maria, California
    Median: $1.363 million
    One-year change: 20.9%
    Three-year change: 62.1%
    Five-year change: 73.5%
  3. Charlotte, North Carolina
    Median: $327,600
    One-year change: 10.7%
    Three-year change: 59.4%
    Five-year change: 82.9%
  4. Grand Rapids, Michigan
    Median: $249,900
    One-year change: 8.7%
    Three-year change: 56.4%
    Five-year change: 72.5%
  5. College Station, Texas
    Median: $314,900
    One-year change: 2.4%
    Three-year change: 55.5%
    Five-year change: 85.3%
  6. Lexington, Kentucky
    Median: $269,900
    One-year change: 14.9%
    Three-year change: 53.1%
    Five-year change: 61.7%
  7. New Orleans, Louisiana
    Median: $274,500
    One-year change: 9.8%
    Three-year change: 52.5%
    Five-year change: 62.4%
  8. Fort Wayne, Indiana
    Median: $176,100
    One-year change: 22.5%
    Three-year change: 52.5%
    Five-year change: 67.9%
  9. Columbus, Ohio
    Median: $241,300
    One-year change: 27.1%
    Three-year change: 51.3%
    Five-year change: 66.4%
  10. Nashville, Tennessee
    Median: $359,900
    One-year change: 10.8%
    Three-year change: 49.1%
    Five-year change: 89.4%

For more details on each city, visit the Realtor.com website.

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