New York is more than just being home to “The Big Apple.” In fact, with or without New York City’s elevated housing market, there are many places throughout the state where you can invest and quickly grow your wealth. If you are looking to buy a home in the Empire State be sure to consider areas where your investment will appreciate, or quickly move at a profit should you want to sell.
GOBankingRates recently conducted a study to examine the best housing markets in cities across the country worth your investment. The analysis was based on such factors as 1-year and 2-year changes in home value, the share of listings with a price cut, mean list-to-sale ratio and pending days to close. To better compare to New York’s housing market, below are the national statistics:
- The national average home value in the U.S. was $350,979 as of Aug. 2023 and $361,282 as of Aug. 2024.
- This is a 2.94% 1-year increase in home value and a 3.35% 2-year difference.
- The national mean days to close on a house was 34 days.
If you live in New York or are looking to move there, here are the seven best housing markets we recommend to grow your wealth, and how quickly you can expect to do so.
Rochester
- August 2022 home value: $223,821
- August 2023 home value: $239,538
- August 2024 home value: $258,227
- 1-year home value change: 7.80%
- 2-year home value change: 15.37%
- Mean sale-to-list ratio: 118.54%
- Mean days to close: 46
Syracuse
- August 2022 home value: $200,786
- August 2023 home value: $215,526
- August 2024 home value: $238,689
- 1-year home value change: 10.75%
- 2-year home value change: 18.88%
- Mean sale-to-list ratio: 106.74%
- Mean days to close: 60
Binghamton
- August 2022 home value: $160,401
- August 2023 home value: $169,454
- August 2024 home value: $185,020
- 1-year home value change: 9.19%
- 2-year home value change: 15.35%
- Mean sale-to-list ratio: 101.21%
- Mean days to close: 56
Buffalo
- August 2022 home value: $244,276
- August 2023 home value: $251,789
- August 2024 home value: $267,687
- 1-year home value change: 6.31%
- 2-year home value change: 9.58%
- Mean sale-to-list ratio: 107.69%
- Mean days to close: 58
Albany
- August 2022 home value: $304,502
- August 2023 home value: $316,525
- August 2024 home value: $335,986
- 1-year home value change: 6.15%
- 2-year home value change: 10.34%
- Mean sale-to-list ratio: 103.29%
- Mean days to close: 52
Utica
- August 2022 home value: $189,636
- August 2023 home value: $194,405
- August 2024 home value: $208,997
- 1-year home value change: 7.51%
- 2-year home value change: 10.21%
- Mean sale-to-list ratio: 99.17%
- Mean days to close: 62
New York City
- August 2022 home value: $622,220
- August 2023 home value: $629,018
- August 2024 home value: $672,211
- 1-year home value change: 6.87%
- 2-year home value change: 8.03%
- Mean sale-to-list ratio: 102.83%
- Mean days to close: 55
Methodology: For this piece, GOBankingRates looked at the 200 largest Metro Statistical Areas (MSA) according to real estate market and found the following ten factors. For each MSA GOBankingRates found: (1) 1-year percent change in home value; (2) 1-year change in home value in USD; (3) 2-year percent change in home value; (4) 2-year change in home value in USD; (5) For-Sale Inventory; (6) mean days from listing to pending; (7) mean list to sale ratio; (8) mean days from pending to close; (9) share of listings with a price cut; and (10) mean price cut. All data was sourced from Zillow’s June 2024 data. All ten factors were then scored and combined with the highest score being the worst housing markets. In final calculations, factors (1), (2), (9), and (10) were weighted 2x and factor (5) was weighted 0.5x. All data was collected and is up to date as of September 26, 2024.