Where Are the Best Cities To Buy a Home in 2023? (Hint: They’re All Down South)

Yaёl Bizouati-Kennedy
bernardbodo / Getty Images/iStockphoto
bernardbodo / Getty Images/iStockphoto

A combination of factors — including soaring mortgage rates, inflation and short supply — made becoming a homeowner a difficult path for many Americans in 2022.

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The National Association of Realtors (NAR) added that as rents have increased as well, it’s also difficult for potential first-time buyers.

“Existing-home sales have experienced the most prolonged slump in history, returning to 2011 levels near 4.4 million homes,” NAR’s 2022 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers reported. The share of first-time home buyers “shrunk to all time-lows at 26% in 2022 from 34% just a year ago,” the NAR report detailed.

Yet the housing market may turn around in 2023, as contract signings fell slower than the previous month, mortgage rates have likely peaked and rates are finally moving down as inflation cools.

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Here are the best markets to buy a home in 2023, according to the NAR. Several criteria were considered, including home affordability, job growth, migration gains and housing supply. Interestingly, all following markets are in the South, and their median home prices come courtesy of CNBC:

  • Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, Georgia: median home price of $371,200.

  • Raleigh, North Carolina: median home price of $460,500.

  • Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas: median home price of $390,100.

  • Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, Arkansas-Missouri: median home price of $328,400.

  • Greenville-Anderson-Mauldin, South Carolina: median home price of $335,400.

  • Charleston-North Charleston, South Carolina: median home price of $416,800.

  • Huntsville, Alabama: median home price of $327,500.

  • Jacksonville, Florida: median home price of $398,000.

  • San Antonio-New Braunfels, Texas: median home price of $342,700.

  • Knoxville, Tennessee: median home price of $331,100.

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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Where Are the Best Cities To Buy a Home in 2023? (Hint: They’re All Down South)

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