Top housing markets for 2026 revealed as sellers, homeowners can look forward to ‘potential upside’

The new year is expected to bring greater stability to the US housing market, but several regional metros stand out from the pack, offering buyers better affordability than their high-priced neighbors while also delivering advantages to sellers.     

Researchers at Realtor.com® have identified ten regional markets—almost all in the Northeast or Midwest—that are projected to see robust growth driven by rising home sales, price gains, or both. 

These high-performance enclaves have several things in common: They all offer better value than larger, top-dollar metros in the area, but chronically tight inventory and strong demand continue to put upward pressure on home prices there.

“For buyers, that can mean more competition and faster price gains,” says Realtor.com senior economist Jake Krimmel. “For sellers and homeowners in these areas, it points to strong demand and potential upside next year.”

These often-overlooked markets attract buyers with stronger credit scores and higher down payments than many other metros, and they are home to older, more stable households with the median age in the 50s.

Across the top 100 US metros, Hartford, CT, ranks as the No. 1 market slated to experience the nation’s highest growth of more than 17% in 2026, according to a new report from Realtor.com.

The city is expected to see a 7.6% jump in existing-home sales and a 9.5% rise in median sale price year over year. 

Rochester, NY, ranks second on the list with a projected growth of 15.5%, followed by Worcester, MA, at 15%; Toledo, OH, at roughly 12%; and Providence, RI, at 11.2%, rounding out the top five. 

Other value hubs poised to experience a boost in home sales and prices include Richmond, VA, the ranking’s sole Southern entry (10.6% projected combined growth); Grand Rapids, MI (10.6%); Milwaukee (10.5%); New Haven, CT (10%); and Pittsburgh, PA (9.7%).

Relative affordability boosts ‘refuge markets’

According to Krimmel, these ten outperforming markets owe much of their appeal to their proximity to significantly more expensive metros such as New York City, Washington, DC, and Boston, as buyers facing elevated prices and mortgage rates continue to pursue greater affordability.

This trend has resulted in surging demand among frugal shoppers for homes in “refuge markets“—smaller, relatively budget-friendly destinations concentrated in the Midwest and Northeast that posted some of the strongest price gains in 2025 while remaining affordable compared to major metros.

Grand Rapids, which is expected to see the seventh-highest growth rate next year, was recently identified as the nation’s top refuge market. It boasted the biggest annual increase in the price per square foot, at 5.5%—and an appreciation rate of over 15% compared to 2022.

“The key commonality across these hubs is good value for homebuyers,” notes Krimmel.

The median list price across the 2026 top ten markets averages around $384,000, well below the $415,000 national median for November — making them particularly attractive to first-time buyers and transplants from pricier locales.

For instance, the median list price in top-ranked Hartford in November was $429,000, up 5.6% from a year ago and slightly exceeding the national figure, but it was still more than $320,000 cheaper than in New York City.  

Similarly, the median price in Providence was $550,000 in November—the highest among the top ten markets in the ranking but a bargain compared to Boston’s $785,000 price tag. 

“When you’re looking for affordability and you can commute to Boston in as little as 45 minutes on the train or an hour by car if needed, it’s understandable that most out-of-state buyers come from Massachusetts,” Mike Pereira, principal broker at June Realty and president of the Rhode Island Association of Realtors®, tells Realtor.com.

Pereira points out that nearly one-quarter of all homebuyers in Rhode Island come from out of state and account for more than 40% of $1 million-plus sales.

“The reason is simple. We have a lot to offer at a price point that is less expensive than other states, particularly Massachusetts,” he says.

Krimmel expects demand and buying activity to remain highest in smaller Northeast and Midwest markets where shoppers can stretch their dollar further by balancing affordability with access to jobs.  

Additionally, several of the ranked metros are less “locked in” by lower, pandemic-era mortgage rates than pricey coastal metros like Los Angeles and Portland, ME.

In Rochester, Toledo, and Pittsburgh—the three most budget-friendly cities on the list—the gap between what existing mortgage holders pay each month and what a new buyer would pay at the current rate is well below the national median of roughly 73%.

For example, if a homeowner in Rochester were to sell their home and buy another one in town with financing, their monthly payment would be about 44% higher than the typical outstanding mortgage payment.

Tight inventory and scarce new construction

The top ten metros are markets with consistently tight inventory.

As of November, Hartford’s active listings were 74% below pre-pandemic levels, followed by New Haven and Providence at 60% and 55%, respectively.

“While we’re slowly seeing some growth in our housing inventory,  we still have less than a three-month supply of homes on the market, which is causing affordability issues for many Rhode Islanders,” says Pereira.

Even Pittsburgh, the largest metro in the top ten ranking for 2026, remains 31% below 2019 supply levels.

In the Northeast and Midwest, one of the reasons for constrained inventory is low levels of construction activity: Newly built homes make up a smaller share of listings in those regions than the national average, and when they do hit the market, they tend to be expensive.

Economists expect limited inventory to boost prices in the already red-hot markets topping the ranking, which have strengthened since mortgage rates began climbing in 2022 but sit below their regional averages.  

“The combination of lower price points with strong appreciation will foster dynamic conditions in these markets, including elevated listing views, a faster pace, and strong cross-market demand from households moving from high-cost-of-living areas,” says Krimmel.

Realtor.com experts forecast slightly lower mortgage rates averaging 6.3% in 2026, which should help pull buyers off the sidelines, particularly in popular metros offering good value.  

“Lower rates in 2026, coupled with the increase in listings that we’ve seen since early last year, will help with affordability issues,” says Pereira. “Barring any major economic events, we’re hopeful that we’ll begin to see a more normal market next year.”