WalletHub Ranks Real Estate Markets, With Strong Texas Showing

(Image courtesy Get Lost Mike/pexels.com)

Personal finance site WalletHub, Miami, released a list of the best real estate markets in 2023, with five of the top 10 selections for “best place to buy a house” located in Texas.

WalletHub’s top 10 overall “best places to buy a house” were: McKinney, Texas; Frisco, Texas; Nashville, Tenn.; Denton, Texas; Cary, N.C.; Allen, Texas; Durham, N.C.; Austin; Port St. Lucie, Fla.; and Gilbert, Ariz.

To determine its list of best local real estate markets in the U.S., WalletHub compared 300 cities of varying sizes across 17 key indicators of housing-market attractiveness and economic strength, with data from a variety of private and governmental sources.

The 10 lowest cities on its list were: St. Louis; Philadelphia; Hartford, Conn.; Cleveland; Peoria, Ill.; Porstmouth, Va.; Baton Rouge, La.; Shreveport, La.; New Orleans and Baltimore.

WalletHub also provided some other city rankings, such as cities with the highest and lowest shares of seriously underwater mortgages. Miami Gardens, Fla.; Hialeah, Fla.; Miami; and Miami Beach, Fla., all tied for the lowest share. Peoria, Ill.; Columbus, Ga.; Philadelphia; Baton Rouge, La.; Shreveport, La.; and St. Louis tied for the highest share.

In terms of median home appreciation, the top was Miami Gardens, Fla., and the lowest was Hampton, Va.

The lowest foreclosure rate was in Boise, Idaho, and the highest was a tie between Cleveland and Palm Bay, Fla.

The percentage of delinquent mortgage holders, per WalletHub, is lowest in Santa Clara, Calif., with a tie for the highest among Jackson, Miss., Springfield, Mass., Joliet, Ill., Baton Rouge, La., and Portsmouth, Va.

The city with the lowest home price as a percentage of income was Flint, Mich., and the highest was Santa Monica, Calif.