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The Street

Samanda Dorger

The Hottest and Coolest Housing Markets

Unemployment Housing Market Bankrate United States Realtorcom Gainesville Georgia Los Angeles Zillow Fla

There are glimmers of hope, but the housing market is still tough for hopeful homebuyers.

The inventory of homes for sale is higher than last year, but still well below pre-pandemic levels, according to Realtor.com. Existing homeowners are digging in their heels: they’re reluctant to sell because of their locked-in mortgage rates; homes that are for sale are spending more time on the market, and listing price growth has decelerated and is expected to fall compared to last year, Realtor.com says. For buyers, higher interest rates continue to challenge affordability.

But the housing market isn’t stagnating everywhere. Lower-cost and lower-tax areas that continue to add population as well as add limited inventory of homes for sale creates housing market strength, according to a May report by Bankrate, which found that Gainesville, Georgia, seems to have that recipe for real-estate success.

The median price of homes sold in Gainesville in April was $375,000, according to Realtor.com, just a little below the national median of $388,800. The unemployment rate as of February in Gainesville was just 2.6%, with health care a major economic driver. The area has been attracting professionals who are moving out of the Atlanta metro area, Bankrate says.

The Atlanta area has 548 new home communities, according to one site that lists new homes and builder listings, and in nearby Gainesville, Georgia, (pop. of about 42,000) there are 896 new homes listed for sale as of May 23.

Across the country, Bankrate found that markets in Georgia, Tennessee, Florida and North Carolina are the strongest for sellers. On the flip side, the coolest markets in their survey are West Coast markets that experienced large run-ups in prices, as well as some Rust Belt regions struggling with job growth.

To create their Housing Heat Index, Bankrate analyzed 212 U.S. metro areas, examining appreciation of home values, population growth and job growth over one year, the number of active residential listings per 1,000 people, and the median days a listing is on the market based on data from the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Realtor.com, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the U.S. Census.

According to Zillow (ZG), home values in Gainesville are up 3.3% over the past year. Listings have been going "pending" in around 18 days. "Hot markets" experience higher appreciations, while "cold markets" experience declines.

On the other side of the country, a college town in California is in the bottom of the ranking -- the coolest market. The average home value there is $460,009, down 3.9% over the past year and goes to pending in around 15 days, according to Zillow.

The Hottest and Coolest Housing Markets

The Hottest and Coolest Housing Markets

The 15 Hottest Housing Markets

1. Gainesville, Ga.

2. Knoxville, Tenn.

3. Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla.

4. North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton, Fla.

5. Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, N.C.-S.C.

6. Charleston-North Charleston, S.C.

7. Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin, Tenn.

8. Punta Gorda, Fla.

9. Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Fla.

10. Wilmington, N.C.

11. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas

12. Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, Fla.

13. Winston-Salem, N.C.

14. Athens-Clarke County, Ga.

15. Jacksonville, Fla.

The 15 Coolest Housing Markets

1. Chico, Calif.

2. Shreveport-Bossier City, La.

3. Medford, Ore.

4. Cedar Rapids, Iowa

5. Pittsburgh

6. New Orleans-Metairie, La.

7. Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, Iowa-Ill.

8. Napa, Calif.

9. Redding, Calif.

10. Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, Mich.

11. Flint, Mich.

12. Grand Junction, Colo.

13. Lafayette, La.

14. Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, Wash.

15. Santa Rosa-Petaluma, Calif.