Which US cities saw the biggest home value gain in 2024?

(NewsNation) — The total value of the U.S. housing market climbed to nearly $50 trillion in 2024, more than double what it was worth a decade ago, according to Redfin.

The combined value of U.S. homes gained $2.5 trillion last year alone, up 5.2% from the year before. Ten years ago, in 2014, the total value of the housing market was $23 trillion.

Some of the recent rise is due to new construction, but in many markets, buyers are still competing over a small number of listings, which have continued to push prices higher.

“There are more homes for sale right now than in recent years and that has led to buyer’s markets in many areas of the country. That’s good news, but it doesn’t mean homes are getting cheaper,” Redfin Economics Research Lead Chen Zhao said in a statement.

Several cities in upstate and Western New York saw property values skyrocket in 2024. Albany’s total home value grew 11.3%, the biggest increase of all major U.S. metros last year. Rochester was close behind with an 11.2% gain.

Redfin said the rising value is due to a shortage of homes for sale in the region. Rochester had just 1.1 months of supply in January, the lowest level of all major cities. Albany was eighth lowest with just 1.7 months of supply, which is how long it would take for all the homes on the market to sell.

For reference: Four to six months of supply has indicated a buyer’s market historically.

Other Northeast metros, including Newark, New Jersey (11.1%); Buffalo, New York (11.0%); and Hartford, Connecticut (10.6%), also saw their total metro home value surge in 2024.

On the other hand, three metros saw their total home value fall last year, led by Cape Coral, Florida (-2.9%), Redfin found. North Port, Florida (-1.1%), and Honolulu, Hawaii (-0.4%), were the two others.

Several other Florida cities were among those with the slowest-growing total home value in 2024: West Palm Beach (0.3%), Tampa (0.8%) and Fort Lauderdale (1.8%).

The cooldown in the Sunshine State isn’t entirely unsurprising. Florida was a red-hot destination during the pandemic, and home values rose faster than the national average. Builders responded by constructing more homes, and data shows Florida is second to Texas in terms of new construction.

The threat of natural disasters and high home insurance prices have further contributed to the housing slowdown, particularly in western Florida.

Redfin determined the combined value of all U.S. homes based on data from 98.91 million residential properties at the end of December. That total was up from 98.03 million homes a year earlier.

The 5.2% year-over-year growth in the nation’s total home value was the slowest since 2019 as elevated mortgage rates continue to tamp down demand.

But, like anything with real estate, it depends on where you’re looking.

When broken out by area type, Redfin found home values rose the fastest in rural America, up 6.4%. It’s the seventh consecutive year rural home values have outpaced those in urban areas and the suburbs.

Smaller supply is the big reason why. There are around 59 million homes in the suburbs, compared to 23 million in urban areas and 22 million in rural areas, Redfin said.

Metros with the fastest growing total home value in 2024, according to Redfin: